■^^■■■^■■■iMiMi 


UC-NRLF 


B    M    DM3    2^ 


THE  TREES,  SHRUBS,  AND  PLANTS 
OF  VIRGIL 


NEW  YORK : 

LONGMANS,  GREEN  AND  CO.,  FOURTH  AVENUE 
AND  THIRTIETH  STREET 


THE    TREES,    SHRUBS, 
AND   PLANTS  OF  VIRGIL 


BY 

JOHN    SARGEAUNT 

LATE    MASTER    AT    WESTMINSTER 


'Tantus  amor  florum  ' 


OXFORD 
B.    H.    BLACKWELL,    BROAD    STREET 

MDCCCCXX 


PREFACE 

In  the  sixteenth  century  several  botanists  interested 
themselves  in  the  plants  of  the  ancient  Romans. 
Among  them  were  two  able  Italians,  Pietro  Andrea 
Mathioli  (1500-1577),  whose  name  has  been  given  to 
the  cruciferous  genus  of  stock,  and  Andrea  Cesalpini 
(1519-1603),  from  whom  is  named  the  leguminous 
genus  of  Caesalpinia.  Over  Dodoens  or  Dodonaeus 
they  had  the  advantage  of  being  natives  and  in- 
habitants of  Italy.  Their  works  were  studied  by 
John  Martyn,  Professor  of  Botany  in  the  University 
of  Cambridge,  who  in  1741  published  an  edition  of 
the  Georgics  with  an  English  translation.  His 
works  deal  with  the  substance  rather  than  with 
the  language  of  Virgil's  poem.  He  had  been  for 
some  years  in  correspondence  with  Linne,  from 
whom  he  probably  received  help.  Although  Linne 
was  occasionally  in  error,  a  list  of  the  scientific 
names  will  show  how  skilfully  he  had  studied  the 
ancient  Roman  writings.  Martyn  made  two  or  three 
bad  blunders,  but  his  book  is  a  monument  of  clear 
observation  and  sound  common  sense.  It  was 
followed  in  1749  by  an  edition  of  the  Eclogues.     At 


4124^8 


Preface 

later  dates  several  French  botanists  published  Floras 
of  Virgil.  In  view  of  more  recent  discoveries  their 
conclusions  cannot  always  be  accepted,  and,  as  their 
works  have  long  been  out  of  print,  there  seems  room 
for  the  present  little  work. 

The  Flora  Italiana  of  Dr.  Giovanni  Arcangeli 
(2nd  edition,  Turin,  1896)  is  useful  in  its  records  of 
the  present  geographical  range  of  Virgil's  plants.  Of 
later  knowledge,  perhaps  the  most  notable  discovery 
is  the  difference  between  the  Italian  and  the  English 
elms,  but  Arcangeli  was  able  to  accept  incidentally 
Boissier's  identification  of  Virgil's  phaselus  with  the 
plant  known  in  Italy  as  fagiolo  dalV  occhio.  Although 
Virgil  directs  the  sowing  of  it  in  autumn,  even 
Martyn,  followed  by  many  editors,  identified  it  with 
the  tender  French  bean,  which  probably  did  not  find 
its  way  to  Europe  before  the  days  of  Queen 
Elizabeth. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  Conington,  who  gave 
much  thought  to  Virgil,  had  little  interest  in  natural 
objects.  His  notes  on  plants  are  sometimes  gro- 
tesquely in  error.  It  is,  however,  to  another  child 
of  the  cloister  that  readers  of  the  ancient  pastoral 
poems  owe  the  information  that  birds  follow  the 
plough  in  order  to  pick  up  the  grain.  Unless  a 
benevolent  ploughman  sowed  it  with  his  heels,  the 
birds  must  have  made  a  poor  living  of  it.  Birds  do 
pick  up  grain,  but  not  behind  the  plough.  Perhaps 
the  obituary  of  the  house  of  Grub  could  provide  a 
more  mournful  explanation. 

I  ought  to  say  that  with  two  or  three  plants  on  my 

vi 


Preface 

list  I  am  acquainted  only  through  descriptions  and 
figures.  On  the  other  hand,  I  have  nearly  half  of 
them  growing  in  my  garden,  and  others  are  to  be 
found  near  at  hand. 

The  addition  of  plants  from  Moretum  and  Copa 
will,  I  hope,  be  welcome,  and  not  be  taken  as 
necessarily  involving  any  view  on  the  authenticity  of 
those  poems. 

Fair  warp, 

Sussex, 
1919. 


THE    TREES,    SHRUBS,    AND 
PLANTS    OF    VIRGIL 

INTRODUCTION 

By  descent  and  birth  Virgil  was  not  an  Italian  but 
a  Gaul,  and  at  the  time  of  his  birth  his  father  was 
not  a  Roman  citizen.     Nevertheless,  Latin  civiliza- 
tion was  already  entirely  at  home  in  the  plain  of  the 
Po,   and  had  brought  with    it    the    Hellenic   strain 
which   runs   through   the   whole    of    the    Eclogues. 
Thus   Virgil  was  not  afraid  to  call  Italy  his  own 
country,    even   without    reference   to   the    share   of 
Tuscan   blood  which    he    believed   to  be  possessed 
by  the  men  of  Mantova.     Thus,  when   he  came  in 
the  second  Georgic  to  celebrate  the  praises  of  Italy, 
it  hardly  needed  the  extension  of  the  franchise  to 
justify  him  in  ignoring  the  boundary   made  by  the 
Apennines  and  the  little  brook  of  Rubicon.     In  his 
encomium  of  Italian  valour  the  Ligurian  takes  his 
place  beside  the  Marsian  and  the  Samnite,  and  the 
lakes  of  Como  and  Garda  are  no  less  Italian  than 
the  Tyrrhene  surge  which  sweeps  into  the  haven  of 
Avernus. 

In  the  youthful  Virgil  there  were  two  characteris- 

I  B 


Trees,   Shrubs,   and  Plants  of  Virgil 

tics  which  were  not  always  at  one.  He  had  a  native 
love  of  observation  and  he  had  a  young  man's  passion 
for  the  beautiful  language  of  the  Greek  pastoral 
poets. 

His  power  of  observation  may  well  have  been 
inherited,  and  we  can  hardly  doubt  that  it  was 
encouraged  by  the  parents  who  made  a  push  to  give 
him  a  gentleman's  education.  It  was  not  driven  out 
of  him  by  the  training  in  bad  rhetoric  which  poisoned 
for  him  the  last  days  of  his  school  life.  He  saw 
natural  objects  with  a  clearness  which  in  later  days 
sometimes  deserted  him  when  he  came  to  describe 
the  scenes  and  incidents  of  an  epic  poem.  We  do 
well  to  call  the  Aeneid  his  greatest  work,  but  its 
greatness  is  other  than  that  of  the  Georgics. 

Martyn  calls  attention  to  the  exactness  with  which 
his  poet  characterizes  a  group  of  willows,  '  glauca 
canentia  fronde  salicta.'  'The  leaves,'  as  he  says, 
1  are  of  a  bluish  green,  and  the  under  side  of  them 
is  covered  with  white  down.'  This  is  not  true  of  all 
willows,  but  is  true  of  the  species  which  Virgil  had 
in  mind.  For  a  more  detailed  description  and  an 
attempt  to  create  an  exact  vocabulary  reference  may 
be  made  to  the  article  on  '  Amellus.'  For  an  attempt 
to  give  on  the  authority  of  authors  a  clear  account 
of  a  tree  of  which  he  can  have  seen  only  the  fruit  we 
may  refer  to  the  article  on  the  citron. 

Beside  this  power  of  observation,  there  is  in  Virgil's 
earliest  work  the  literary  strain  which  is  not  always 
in  accord  with  it.  Wordsworth  has  told  us  that 
English    poetry  published   between  the  years   1668 

2 


Introduction 

and  1726  does  not,  with  two  exceptions,  'contain 
a  single  new  image  of  external  nature.'  One  of  the 
exceptions  is  '  a  passage  or  two  '  in  the  earlier  work 
of  Pope.  Although  Pope  and  Virgil  were  destined 
to  develop  on  very  different  lines,  there  was  a  touch 
of  likeness  in  their  earlier  works,  and  Pope's  juvenilia 
stand  somewhat  to  Virgil's  pastorals  as  Virgil's  stand 
to  the  works  of  Theocritus  and  Moschus.  Virgil 
seems  at  times  to  think  less  of  the  objects  with 
which  he  deals  than  of  his  desire  to  reproduce  in 
the  graver,  not  to  say  heavier,  language  of  Rome 
the  beauties  of  the  Sicilian  poets.  My  subject  does 
not  call  for  any  defence  of  the  Eclogues.  It  might 
else  be  necessary  to  contend  that  the  pastoral  form 
of  these  poems  is  not  to  be  accused  of  affectation 
or  falsehood.  It  is  the  vehicle  by  which  a  young 
poet  expresses  his  view  of  beauty  and  of  the  purpose 
and  passions  of  life. 

Now  when  Theocritus  tells  us  that  the  goat  goes 
in  quest  of  cytisus  and  the  wolf  in  quest  of  the 
goat,  we  may  well  believe  that  he  had  seen  the  goat 
browsing  on  the  shrub  and  the  wolf  coming  down 
from  the  hills.  But  the  shrub  did  not  come  within 
many  miles  of  Mantova,  and,  although  the  possi- 
bility of  Alpine  wolves  occasionally  descending  upon 
the  plain  cannot  be  denied,  we  cannot  be  certain 
that  Virgil  had  yet  seen  one.  If  Virgil,  when  he 
wrote  the  fourth  Eclogue,  had  ever  seen  a  tamarisk, 
he  would  probably  have  chosen  some  other  epithet 
than  humilis  to  represent  the  shrub  as  the  emblem 
of  lowly  poetry  ;  for  the  word  might  suggest  that  the 

3 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

shrub  itself  is  never  tall,  whereas  sometimes  it  is 
almost  a  tree. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  even  in  his  more  mature 
work  Virgil  sometimes  accepted  statements  from 
others,  and  took  no  pains  to  see  that  they  were  true. 
Thus  he  had  heard  that  any  scion  could  be  success- 
fully grafted  on  any  stock.  On  the  strength  of  this 
information  he  fancied  pear  blossoms  covering  with 
white  the  branches  of  the  manna  ash,  and  swept  away 
by  his  poetic  fervour  conceived  of  swine  champing 
acorns  under  an  elm.  Columella  tried  to  save  his 
master's  credit  in  this  matter  by  showing  how  such 
grafting  could  succeed.  It  is,  however,  manifest 
that  in  Columella's  subterranean  grafting  the  scion 
makes  roots  not  in  the  stock,  but  in  the  ground,  and 
is,  in  fact,  not  a  grafted  scion,  but  a  cutting. 

The  names  of  colours  present  great  difficulties. 
The  colour  sense,  especially  in  reds  and  blues,  seems 
to  have  developed  rather  late  in  man's  history.  The 
yellows  are  fairly  clear,  except  that  there  seems  to 
be  no  word  which  clearly  indicates  the  shining 
yellow  of  the  buttercup.  Both  croceus,  which  comes 
from  the  stigmata  of  the  saffron  crocus,  and  luteus  or 
luteolus,  which  come  from  the  dye  of  weld,  seem  to 
have  a  dash  of  orange  in  them.  Virgil  in  one  place 
combines  them  and  speaks  of  saffron  weld.  The 
yolk  of  an  egg  was  always  called  luteum.  Then  comes 
flavus,  which  is  used  most  of  fields  of  ripe  corn,  but 
also  of  the  yellow  sands,  an  auburn  head  of  hair,  and 
gold.  Gold  is  also  called  fulvum,  much  as  we  speak  of 
red  gold  ;  for  of  this  hue  is  the  tawny  hide  of  the 

4 


Introduction 

lion,  and  even  the  less  red  hide  of  the  wolf.     Last  is 
gilvus,  which  is  dun,  and  is  used  of  a  horse. 

Then  there  are  white  and  black.  It  seems  clear 
that  Virgil  does  not  distinguish  candidus  and  albus, 
for  he  applies  them  both  to  the  same  objects.  The 
original  meaning  of  candidus  was  white  hot,  and  it 
therefore  implies  a  shining  white,  but  Virgil  applies 
it  to  a  beard  and  a  poplar-tree.  Nor  can  it  be  made 
out  that  he  distinguishes  ater  and  niger  except  in 
metaphorical  uses.  Properly  ater  seems  to  be  the 
colour  of  charcoal.  There  is  also  a  wide  extension 
both  of  black  and  of  white.  Of  two  Sicilians  one  is 
called  black  and  the  other  white.  A  black  flower 
need  be  no  darker  than  violet,  and  we  may  say  that 
in  some  contexts  white  means  little  more  than  not 
black  and  black  little  more  than  not  white. 

Worst  of  all  are  the  two  words  purpureas  and 
ferrugineus.  As  applied  to  flowers,  the  former  ap- 
pears to  mean  no  more  than  bright,  a  meaning 
which  it  retains  when  applied  to  the  light  of  youth — 
'  lumen  iuventae.'  A  contemporary  of  Virgil  applied 
the  epithet  to  snow,  and  I  cannot  see  that  Virgil 
ever  uses  it  of  a  dark  hue,  not  even  when  he  applies 
it  to  the  breath  or  soul  leaving  the  body  in  a  violent 
death.  On  the  other  hand,  ferrugineus,  which  must 
originally  have  signified  the  colour  of  iron  rust,  does 
connote  some  darkness,  and  clearly  Virgil  uses  it  of 
Tyrian  purple.  He  also  uses  it  of  the  darkness  that 
comes  over  the  sun  in  an  eclipse  and  of  Charon's 
boat.  A  character  in  Plautus  tells  us  that  it  is  the 
colour  of  the  sea,  and  as  the  sea  displays  so  many 

5 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

colours  he  was  doubtless  in  part  right.  It  seems, 
however,  that  none  of  these  uses  would  make  it 
impossible  for  a  Roman  to  apply  the  word  to  some 
shade  of  red.  On  the  hyacinthus  we  cannot  rule  reds 
out  on  the  ground  that  Virgil  writes  of  '  ferrugineos 
hyacinthos.' 

Another  difficulty  is  that  we  are  not  always  sure 
whether  Virgil's  epithet  applies  to  the  whole  of  a 
blossom  or  part  of  it,  whether  to  the  blossom  at  all 
or  to  the  leaves  or  some  other  part.  Sometimes  we 
can  see  him  using  an  epithet  as  we  should  not. 
Thus  to  a  Latin  the  important  part  of  a  poppy  is 
the  seeds,  and,  because  the  seeds  are  small,  Virgil 
writes  of  the  small  poppy,  though  the  plant  will 
out-top  a  man.  Again,  as  we  see  in  Theophrastus, 
when  the  stamens  and  pistils  of  a  flower  were  large 
they  were  regarded  as  a  second  flower  within  the 
other.  The  Greek  writes  thus,  for  instance,  of  the 
lily  and  the  rose.  Thus  when  Virgil  writes  '  pur- 
pureo  narcisso '  he  seems  to  me  to  refer  to  the 
shining  white  of  the  outer  perianth  ;  but  to  some 
he  seems  to  speak  of  the  cup,  which  Arcangeli  calls 
scarlet,  and  Nicholson,  perhaps  more  correctly, 
scarlet-edged.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in 
'  pallentes  hederae '  the  epithet  applies  solely  to  the 
fruit. 

From  the  writers  on  country  affairs,  especially 
Pliny  and  Columella,  some  help  is  obtained  on  these 
points.  They  also  aid  us  to  ascertain  things  which 
were  probably  known  to  Virgil,  though  they  are  not 
mentioned  in  his  works. 

6 


Introduction 

It  is,  perhaps,  not  superfluous  to  say  that  the 
lexicons  err  at  times,  not  only  in  their  identification 
of  the  plants,  but  also  in  the  names  of  their  parts. 
Several  examples  will  be  found  in  the  text.  One 
may  be  mentioned  here.  The  lexicons  say  that  both 
palmes  and  pampinus  mean  a  vine-tendril.  In  fact, 
they  have  different  meanings,  but  the  meaning  of 
tendril  belongs  to  neither. 

It  may  be  well  to  set  forth  the  various  meanings 
of  some  of  the  Latin  words  used  of  plants,  as  the 
lexicons  are  defective  in  this  matter. 

Folium  usually  means  a  leaf,  but  it  also  is  used  to 
signify  the  petals  of  a  polypetalous  flower,  such  as 
the  poppy ;  the  ray-flowers  of  a  composite,  such  as 
the  daisy ;  and  the  divisions  of  the  perianth  in 
monocotyledons,  such  as  the  lily.  Further,  it  may 
mean  a  spray  or  branchlet  of  any  coniferous  tree,  or 
the  tunics  of  the  bulb  in  such  plants  as  squills. 

Ramus  normally  means  a  branch  or  bough,  but 
Virgil  also  uses  it  of  the  male  catkins  of  the  walnut. 

Filum,  from  its  sense  of  a  thread,  comes  to  mean 
the  filament  of  a  stamen.  Since,  by  a  metaphor 
from  weaving,  it  sometimes  signifies  the  outline  or 
contour  of  a  human  or  other  figure,  it  is  used  for  the 
habit  of  a  plant,  and,  it  would  seem,  also  for  its  stem. 

Silva  may  signify  the  flowering  stems  of  any  plant 
that  has  more  than  one,  such  as  lupins  and  Michael- 
mas daisies. 

Cespes,  which  properly  means  a  sod,  may  be  used 
of  a  stool — that  is  to  say,  a  mass  of  roots  in  a  plant 
which  makes  offshoots,  as  the  Michaelmas  daisy. 

7 


THE  TREES,  SHRUBS,  AND  PLANTS 
OF  VIRGIL 

Abies. 

'  casus  abies  visura  marinos  '  (Ge.  ii.  68). 

'  pulcherrima  .  .  .  abies  in  montibus  altis  '  (Ec.  vii.  66). 

'nigra  .  .  .  abiete '  (Ac.  viii.  599). 

The  red  or  silver  fir  (Abies  pectinata)  is  common 
on  the  Alps,  and  occurs,  though  seldom  in  great 
quantity,  through  the  range  of  the  Apennines,  where 
Theophrastus  notes  that  it  grew  to  a  great  size. 
Byron  knew  it,  though  not  as  Virgil's  tree ;  and  in 
the  lines, 

'  But  from  their  nature  will  the  tannen  grow 
Loftiest  on  loftiest  and  least  shelter'd  rocks  ' 

(C.H.P.  iv.  20), 

he  naturalized  its  German  name,  a  fact  overlooked 
by  the  N.E.D.  In  a  note  he  adds  that  it  is  the 
tallest  mountain  tree,  a  statement  true  of  Europe. 
It  runs  up  to  a  hundred  feet.  The  timber  was  used 
in  shipbuilding,  and  on  account  of  its  lightness  pre- 
ferred to  all  others  for  masts  and  yard-arms. 

Since  a  large  mass  of  this  fir  as  seen  in  the 
distance  looks  black,  especially  against  the  sky, 
Virgil's  epithet  is  justified.  The  Romans,  however, 
generally  called  evergreen  trees  black  in  contrast 
with  the  usually  lighter  foliage  of  deciduous  species. 

Flower,  March  to  May. 

Italian  name,  Abete  rosso. 
8 


Acanthus 

Acanthus. 

A.  '  molli  circum  est  ansas  amplexus  acantho'  (Ec.  iii.  45). 

B.  '  circumtextum  croceo  velamen  acantho '  (Ae.  i.  649). 
'  baccas  semper  frondentis  acanthi'  (Ge.  ii.  119). 

Here  we  have  two  distinct  plants  under  one  name. 
The  former  is  our  garden  bear's-breech  (Acanthus 
mollis),  a  scrofularious  plant  with  a  dull  flower  and 
the  large  leaves  which  were  long  thought  to  have 
suggested  the  Corinthian  capital.  In  Theocritus  the 
carving  is  in  relief  on  the  body  of  the  cup ;  Virgil 
transfers  it  to  the  handles,  and  perhaps  meant  it  to 
represent  the  flower  spike.  The  epithet  of '  mollis  ' 
both  alludes  to  the  carver's  skill,  and  distinguishes 
the  plant  from  a  kindred  species  whose  leaves  end  in 
short  spines. 

Flower,  March  to  July. 

Italian  names,  Acanto  and  Brancorsina. 

The  other  plant  is  gum  arabic  (Acacia  Arabica), 
which  is  not  native  in  Italy,  and  with  us  is  a  green- 
house tree.  It  is  akin  to  the  shrubs  whose  sprays 
of  yellow  flowers  are  in  spring  imported  from  the 
Riviera  to  London,  and  sold  under  the  name  of 
mimosa.  These  are  of  Australian  origin.  The 
flowers  of  our  plant  are  in  globular  heads.  By 
1  baccas '  Virgil  means  either  these  heads  or  the 
curious  seed-pod,  which  resembles  a  string  of  beads. 

In  Ge.  iv.  123  is  the  difficult  phrase  '  flexi  vimen 
acanthi,'  referred  by  Martyn  to  the  bear's-breech, 
though  neither  the  substantive  nor  the  adjective  well 
fits  this  plant.     He  finds  an  explanation  in  a  story 

9 


Trees,   Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 

told  by  Vitruvius,  who  says  that  a  basket  covered 
with  a  tile  happened  to  be  placed  upon  a  root  of 
acanthus,  and  when  the  plant  shot  up  in  spring  the 
stalks  came  up  round  the  basket  till  they  were  caused 
by  the  tile  to  bend  outward.  The  architect  Calli- 
machus,  passing  by,  was  struck  by  the  effect,  and, 
having  to  make  some  pillars  at  Corinth,  imitated  it 
in  the  capitals.  The  story,  probably  a  fiction,  may 
have  been  known  to  Virgil,  but  is  not  satisfactory  as 
an  explanation  of  our  passage.  It  is  better  to  refer 
Virgil's  phrase  to  the  gum  arabic,  and  to  suppose 
that  in  favourable  spots  in  Italy,  such  as  the 
Corycian's  garden  at  Taranto,  the  plant  could  be 
grown  in  the  open  air  with  such  protection  in  winter 
as  in  the  north  was  given  to  myrtles.  With  us  it  is 
a  greenhouse  tree. 

The  robe  which  Leda  made  for  Helen  had  a 
woven  border  representing  our  plant. 

Flower,  spring. 
Italian  name,  Acacia. 

Acer. 

'trabibus  .  .  .  acernis '  [Ac  ii.  112;  ix.  87). 
'  solio  .  .  .  acerno  '  (Ae.  viii.  178). 

The  maple  (Acer  campestre),  both  in  Greece  and 
in  Italy  mainly  a  tree  of  the  hills,  disappears  in 
southern  Italy,  but  is  found  again  on  the  mountains 
of  Sicily.  Virgil  gives  it,  together  with  pine  and 
spruce,  as  supplying  the  timber  for  the  wooden 
horse,  and  he  doubtless  thought  of  them  as  trees  of 
Mount  Ida.    In  our  second  passage  'trabibus'  is  used 

10 


Aconitum 

of  living  trees,  which  form  part  of  a  sacred  grove  of 
Cybele.  The  maple  throne  of  Evander  marks  the 
simplicity  of  the  Arcadian  exile's  life.  Silver  and 
gold  he  had  none. 

Maple  wood  is  hard,  and  was  used  for  the  yokes  of 
oxen  and  for  writing  tablets.  It  was  a  favourite 
material  with  the  wealthy  for  tables,  either  entire  or 
veneered;  and  Pliny  says  it  was  second  only  to  what 
the  Romans  called  citron — that  is,  the  wood  of 
Juniperus  oxycedrus. 

Flower,  April  and  May. 

Italian  names,  Acero,  Chioppo,  and  Loppo. 

Aconitum. 

'  nee  miseros  fallunt  aconita  legentes  '  {Ge.  ii.  152). 
'fallax  herba  veneni'  [Ec.  iv.  24). 

Dioscorides  has  distressed  the  commentators  by 
saying  that  there  were  aconites  in  Italy,  but  the 
species  to  which  he  refers  were  probably  well  known 
as  poisonous.  Virgil  is  speaking  of  a  noxious  plant 
which  was  liable  to  be  confounded  with  a  harmless 
one,  and  probably  means  the  pale  yellow  monk's- 
hood  (Aconitum  anthora),  a  near  relative  of  our 
own  blue  and  poisonous  monk's-hood,  which  is  some- 
times mistaken  for  horseradish.  Virgil  might  justly 
say  that  his  country  was  exempt  from  the  danger  of 
this  plant,  for  its  only  claim  to  a  place  in  the  Italian 
flora  is  that  it  occurs  in  the  mountains  of  Liguria. 
There  is  nothing  to  show  that  Virgil  had  ever  seen 
the  plant,  but  he  had  read  of  it  in  the  Greek  authors, 

11 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 

and   learnt    from    them    that    there  was   no  known 
antidote. 

Flower,  July  and  August. 
Aesculus  :   see  Robur. 

Alga. 

'  saxa  frenunt  laterique  illisa  refunditur  alga'  (Ae.  vii.  590). 
'  proiecta  vilior  alga'  (Ec.  vii.  42). 

This  was  a  general  name  for  various  kinds  of  sea- 
weed. They  are  not  entirely  worthless,  for  one  yields 
a  red  dye,  and  Palladius  was  aware  of  their  value 
as  manure.  Columella  also  recommends  its  use  in 
transplanting  cabbage.  Dulse  appears  to  have  been 
unknown.  Since  much  of  the  seaweed  cast  up  on 
the  shore  was  wasted,  and  that  which  was  used  cost 
no  more  than  the  labour  of  moving  it,  seaweed  came 
to  be  a  synonym  for  what  is  worthless. 

Alium. 

'alia  serpyllumque  herbas  contundit  olentes  '  (Ec.  ii.  n). 

That  Virgil  is  justified  in  the  epithet  which  he 
assigns  to  garlic  (Allium  sativum)  no  one  who  has 
sat  beside  an  Italian  or  Sicilian  driver  will  care  to 
dispute.  The  plant  is  Asiatic,  but  early  found  its 
way  into  Greece  and  Italy,  and  in  both  countries 
it  was  regarded  as  giving  both  courage  and  strength 
to  him  that  ate  it.  In  our  passage  the  leaves  are 
bruised  together  with  thyme  for  the  reapers'  midday 
meal.     This  salad  included  flour  and  cheese  with  oil 

12 


Alnus 

and  vinegar.  Its  name  was  '  moretum,'  and  the 
poem  with  that  title,  ascribed  to  Virgil,  supplies  this 
work  with  some  names  of  plants. 

Flower,  June  and  Jury. 
Italian  name,  Aglio. 


Alnus. 

'  crassis  .  .  .  paludibus  alni  |  nascuntur  '  (Ge.  ii.  no). 
'tunc  alnos  primum  fluvii  sensere  cavatas '  (Ge.  i.  136). 

The  alder  (Alnus  glutinosa)  is  a  common  tree  along 
river-banks  in  most  parts  of  Europe,  and  goes  up  to 
three  thousand  feet  above  sea-level  on  the  Apennines. 
It  is  akin  to  the  birch,  which  in  Italy  is  confined 
to  sub-alpine  districts  and  is  not  mentioned  by 
Virgil.  The  hollowed  trunk  supplied  an  early,  though 
perhaps  not  the  earliest,  form  of  a  boat.  It  is 
plentiful  on  the  Po,  where  it  seems  still  to  have  been 
used  for  boat-building  in  Virgil's  days :  '  innatat 
ainus  missa  Pado '  (Ge.  ii.  451).  The  flowers  and 
fruits  are  in  a  somewhat  inelegant  catkin,  which 
appears  before  the  leaves.  Hence  the  jilted  shepherd, 
in  praying  for  an  inversion  of  Nature,  desires  that 
the  blossoms  of  the  poet's  narcissus  may  appear 
upon  the  alder:  'narcisso  floreat  alnus'  (Ec.  viii.  53). 
Virgil  notices  the  very  rapid  growth  of  alder  shoots 
in  spring  {Ec.  x.  74). 

Flower,  March. 
Italian  name,  Ontano. 

*3 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 

Amaracus. 

'  mollis  amaracus  ilium  j  floribus  et  dulci  adspirans  com- 
plectitur  umbra'  (Ae.  i.  693). 

The  sweet  marjoram  (Origanum  majorana)  is  a 
North  African  herb,  which  has  been  in  our  gardens 
since  the  days  of  Elizabeth.  As  it  will  not  stand 
our  winters,  it  is  treated  here  as  an  annual.  It  is 
naturalized  in  Italy,  and  Virgil  may  have  known  it 
as  a  garden  plant.  Since,  however,  the  passage 
deals  with  a  miracle  of  Venus;  we  need  not  assume 
this.     The  plant  was  used  for  wreaths. 

Our  plant  seems  to  be  Shakespeare's  sweet  mar- 
joram, though  our  old  writers  ascribe  sweetness  and 
other  virtues  to  the  native  species  also.  They  belong 
to  the  labiate  order,  and  are  akin  to  thyme  and  mint. 

Flower,  June  and  July. 

Italian  names,  Maggiorana  and  Persia. 

Amellus. 

'  est  etiam  flos  in  pratis  cui  nomen  amello 
fecere  agricolae,  facilis  quaerentibus  berba  j 
namque  uno  ingentem  tollit  de  cespite  silvam  ; 
aureus  ipse,  sed  in  foliis,  quae  plurima  circum 
funduntur,  violae  sublucet  purpura  nigrae. 
saepe  deum  nexis  ornatae  torquibus  arae. 
asper  in  ore  sapor  :  tonsis  in  vallibus  ilium 
pastores  et  curva  legunt  prope  flumina  Mellae.' 

(Ge.  iv.  271  sqq.) 

Here  we  have  Virgil  describing  solely  from  his 
own  observation  a  plant  of  his  own  district  with 
what  we  may  presume  to  be  a  Gallic  name.     It  does 

14 


A  melius 

not  extend  into  southern  Italy,  and  it  is  clear  that 
Columella  never  saw  it,  and  mistook  Virgil's  descrip- 
tion of  it.  There  seems  to  be  no  certain  mention  of 
it  in  any  other  ancient  author. 

The  plant  is  the  Aster  amellus  of  Linnaeus,  one  of 
the  many  species  to  which  our  gardeners  have  given 
the  name  of  Michaelmas  daisies.  Virgil  had  no 
technical  vocabulary  for  botanical  descriptions,  but 
in  this  case  he  almost  creates  one.  The  flower  is  a 
composite,  the  head  consisting  of  disk  flowers  and 
ray  flowers.  His  name  for  the  disk  is  flos  ipse,  and 
his  name  for  the  ray  flowers  is  folia,  a  word  which 
Ovid  applies  to  the  petaloid  perianth  of  a  lily,  just 
as  (fivWov  is  one  name  for  a  petal.  What  gardeners 
call  the  stool — that  is,  the  mass  of  roots  and  sub- 
terranean stems — is  '  cespes,'  and  the  stems  which 
rise  from  it  are  the  '  ingens  silva.'  When  Virgil 
says  that  in  the  ray  flowers  purple  shines  under  dark 
violet,  he  seems  to  indicate  a  particular  shade  of 
purple  or  violet  for  which  there  was  no  name.  Our 
earlier  translators  made  sad  work  of  a  passage  which 
is  as  clear  as  Virgil's  vocabulary  could  make  it. 

The  Mella  is  a  tributary  of  the  Po,  which  rises 
in  the  mountains  above  Brescia,  and  Virgil  here 
refers  to  its  upper  course,  for  the  plant  does  not 
descend  into  the  plains.  It  grows  on  the  sides  of  the 
valleys,  and  is  conspicuous  in  August  and  September, 
when  the  grass  has  been  shortened  by  mowing  or 
grazing.  We  may  take  '  tonsis  '  in  either  sense,  for 
the  effect  is  the  same.  The  latter  sense  seems  more 
likely,  for,  although  the  plant  is  not  full  grown  at 

15 


Trees,   Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

the  time  of  the  hay  harvest,  it  is  tall  enough  to  be 
topped  by  the  scythe.  Moreover,  it  affects  the  slopes 
rather  than  the  level  ground. 

Under  cultivation  and  through  hybridizing  amellus 
has  developed  many  varieties.  In  many  of  them 
the  disk  has  taken  the  colour  of  the  rays. 
Whether  it  ever  does  this  in  the  wild  state  I  do 
not  know. 

Virgil  recommends  boiling  the  roots  in  wine  as 
a  remedy  for  bee  disease.  The  taste,  as  he  says, 
is  rough,  and  the  Brescian  bee-keepers  may  have 
known  their  business  when  they  gave  the  root  to  the 
sick  bees. 

Flower,  July  to  October. 
Italian  names,  Amello  and  Astro. 

Amomum. 

'  ferat  et  rubus  asper  amomum '  (Ec.  iii.  89). 
'  Assyrium  .  .  .  amomum '  (Ec.  iv.  25). 

Virgil  cannot  have  known  this  East  Indian  shrub, 
which  is  akin  to  the  banana  and  the  plantain, 
though  he  knew  the  balsam  which  it  produced.  It 
is  cardamom  (Amomum  cardamomum),  and  the 
spice  yielded  by  its  seed  capsules  fetched  a  high 
price  at  Rome.  It  has  been  cultivated  in  our  stoves 
for  nearly  a  hundred  years,  but  its  brownish  flowers 
are  not  very  attractive. 

Flower,  summer. 

Italian  name,  Cardamomo. 

16 


Anethum 

Anethum. 

1  florem  bene  olentis  anethi '  (Ec.  ii.  48). 

'  vetus  adstricti  fascis  pendebat  anethi '  (Mor.  59). 

In  our  first  passage  Virgil  follows  the  Sicilian 
poets,  and  probably  did  not  know  what  plant  he 
meant.  In  Greek  the  name  usually  meant  dill;  but 
it  may  well  be  doubted  w7hether  in  Sicily,  where 
this  plant  was  not  native,  the  name  was  not  applied 
to  the  nearest  native  species.  This  was  fennel  (Foeni- 
culum  vulgare),  a  common  plant  in  the  lower  ground 
of  Italy  and  Sicily.  When  it  was  gathered  the 
bunches  were  dried  in  the  sun  and  used  in  cookery. 

In  Pliny  and  other  writers  our  name  means  '  dill ' 
(Anethum  graveolens).  The  dried  leaves  were  used 
to  flavour  soups. 

Flower,  July  and  August. 
Italian  name,  Finocchio  (fennel). 
Aneto  (dill). 

Apium. 

1  virides  apio  ripae  '  (Ge.  iv.  121). 

1  apio  crines  ornatus  amaro '  (Ec.  vi.  68). 

The  lexicons  call  this  plant  parsley,  but  they  are 
certainly  wrong,  as  Virgil's  epithet  alone  should 
have  shown  them.  His  plant  is  smallage  or  celery 
(Apium  graveolens),  the  Greek  aiXivov,  which  gave 
its  name  to  the  Sicilian  city.  Celery  likes  to  grow, 
where  Virgil  puts  it,  with  its  toes  in  water ;  while 
parsley,  nowhere  known  as  a  wild  plant,  naturalizes 
itself,  as  Hooker  says,  '  on  castle  walls  and  in  waste 

17  c 


Trees,  Shrubs,   and  Plants  of  Virgil 

places.'  In  a  wild  state  celery  is  rank,  coarse,  and 
unwholesome  ;  but  it  has  been  much  improved  by 
cultivation,  and  the  bitterness,  to  which  Virgil 
refers,  is  annulled  by  blanching  the  leaf-stems.  For 
this  purpose  we  earth  it  up,  but  Columella  and 
Palladius  recommend  the  use  of  a  '  cylindrus,'  which 
in  this  context  clearly  means  a  sea-kale  pot  or  some- 
thing like  it. 

The  leaves  were  used  in  garlands  and  chaplets. 
An  Italian  scholar  has  in  his  possession  a  wreath 
taken  from  the  heart  of  a  mummy  made  in  the 
fifteenth  century  B.C.  It  is  composed  of  alternating 
leaves  of  celery  and  buds  of  the  blue  water-lily  of 
the  Nile. 

Theophrastus  refers  to  what  seem  to  be  cultivated 
varieties,  and  regards  the  plant  as  an  effective 
remedy  for  the  stone. 

Flower,  June. 
Italian  name,  Sedano. 

Arbutus. 

1  arbutus  horrida'  (Ge.  ii.  69). 

1  vos  rara  viridis  tegit  arbutus  umbra '  (Ec.  vii.  46.  Cf . 
Ec.  iii.  82  ;  Ge.  i.  148  ;  ii.  69,  520  ;  iii.  301  ;  iv.  181). 

The  arbute  (Arbutus  unedo)  is  a  tree  of  the 
Mediterranean  region,  which  extends  northwards 
to  Killarney.  It  is  called  the  strawberry-tree  from 
a  superficial  resemblance  in  the  scarlet  fruit,  called 
by  Lucretius  '  puniceus ' ;  but  the  tubercles  on  the 
surface   are   not,    as    in  the  strawberry,    the   seeds. 

18 


Arbutus 

Pliny's  name  of  '  unedo  '  was  supposed  to  mean  that 
he  who  ate  one  would  never  eat  another,  but  Italian 
peasants  do  eat  it  when  it  is  quite  ripe.  Both  leaves 
and  fruit  seem  to  have  been  a  favourite  food  of 
goats — '  dulcis  depulsis  arbutus  haedis '  (Ec.  iii.  82). 
Virgil  makes  bees  feed  on  it  (Ge.  iv.  181),  but  the 
flowers  come  too  late  in  the  year  to  be  of  much  use 
for  honey.  The  bark  of  the  stems  is  very  rough, 
and  to  this  Virgil's  epithet  alludes.  Hurdles  were 
made  of  the  wood  (Ge.  i.  166). 

In  our  gardens  the  tree  will  grow  to  the  height 
of  ten  feet,  and  in  autumn  displays  both  flowers  and 
ripe  fruits. 

Flower,  autumn. 

Italian  names,  Albatro  and  Corbezzolo. 

AVENA  AND  AVENA  STERILIS. 

'  urit  enim  campum  lini  seges,  urit  avenae '  (Ge.  i.  77). 
4  steriles  nascuntur  avenae '  (Ec.  v.  37). 
'  steriles  dominantur  avenae  '  (Ge.  i.  154). 

The  two  plants  are  of  different  species,  but  the 
Romans  gave  them  one  name,  and  held  that  the 
wild  oat  (Avena  fatua)  was  a  degeneracy  from  the 
cultivated  oat  (A.  sativa),  or  from  barley. 

The  oat  is  not  a  plant  of  southern  climates,  and  in 
the  central  peninsula  was  probably  cultivated  only 
in  Cisalpine  Gaul,  where  Virgil,  as  a  boy,  must  have 
seen  it,  and  on  the  northern  slopes  of  the  Apennines. 
He  was  thus  able  to  confirm  the  observation  of 
Theophrastus  that  it   '  runs  '   or  exhausts    the  soil. 

19 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

Columella  says  it  should  be  cut  green  for  fodder  or 
hay.  In  comparing  it  to  a  wild  plant  the  Greek 
authority  does  not  mean  that  it  was  not  cultivated, 
but  refers  to  what  he  calls  the  many  husks  of  the 
seed.  The  wild  oat  occurs  all  over  Europe,  and  has 
increased  in  our  cornfields  since  the  beginning  of 
the  war.  It  is  probable  enough  that  the  name  of 
'  avena  '  was  used  of  other  grasses. 

Although  the  straw  of  the  oat  can  be  made  into 
a  musical  instrument,  it  is  probable  that  our  poets 
in  dealing  with  it  have  not  always  had  their  eyes  on 
the  object.  It  was  enough  for  them  that  Virgil  used 
'  avena  '  of  the  pastoral  instrument.  Hence  Spenser 
speaks  of  the  shepherd  who  broke  '  his  oaten  pipe,' 
Shakespeare  of  shepherds  piping  on  '  oaten  strawes,' 
and  Milton  of  '  the  oaten  flute.'  Of  these  three  poets 
Milton  was  the  most  musical,  and  in  this  case  the 
most  inaccurate.  A  single  straw  could  not  be  made 
into  a  flute,  and  even  as  a  pipe  could  hardly  make 
the  woods  resound  in  praise  of  Amaryllis.  The  fact 
is  that  '  avena  '  as  a  musical  instrument  is  the  pan- 
pipe, the  accompanist  in  this  country  of  the  now, 
alas !  obsolescent  Punch  and  Judy  show.  This 
consisted  of  seven  pipes,  sometimes  perhaps  oaten 
straws,  but  more  often  reeds  or  kexes  — '  septem 
compacta  cicutis  fistula '  (Ec.  ii.  36).  The  single 
pipe  was  despised  by  a  shepherd  of  musical  powers, 
and  left  to  those  whose  use  it  was  '  stridenti 
miserum  stipula  disperdere  caronen  '  (Ec.  iii.  27),  or 
to  '  grate  on  their  scrannel  pipes  of  wretched  straw.' 

Within  the  memory  of  men  living  half  a  century 

20 


Avena  and  Avena  Sterilis 

ago  pan-pipes  of  straw  were  still  made  in  remote 
parts  of  Oxfordshire,  but  even  at  that  time  the 
Punch  and  Judy  men  seem  always  to  have  employed 
reeds. 

Italian  name,  Vena. 

Baccar. 

hederas  passim  cum  baccare  '  (Ec.  iv.  19). 
'  baccare  frontem  cingite'  (Ec.  vii.  27). 

The  name  covers  at  least  three  species  of  cyclamen, 
only  one  of  which,  C.  repandum,  flowers  in  the 
spring.  The  other  two  species  are  autumnal,  and 
geographically  seem  not  to  overlap,  C.  Europaeum 
not  growing  south  of  Lombardy  and  C.  Neapoli- 
tanum  not  north  of  the  Apennines.  In  Lombardy 
the  former  still  bears  the  name  of  '  baccare,'  but 
in  the  Apennines  the  only  name  I  have  ever  got 
from  the  peasantry  for  either  of  the  other  species 
is  '  scacciabile,'  which  doubtless  refers  to  the  purga- 
tive power.  An  allied  species,  C.  hederaefolium, 
with  a  paler  flower,  is  naturalized  here  and  there 
in  southern  England.  There  is  still  considerable 
confusion  in  the  nomenclature  of  these  species. 

The  blossoms  of  the  sowbreads,  to  give  them  their 
English  name,  are  still  made  into  nosegays  and 
wreaths,  not  only  in  Italy,  but  also  in  the  Tyrol, 
where  children  throw  bunches  of  them  into  coaches 
and  carriages  and  look  for  a  reward.  It  is  possible 
that  there  are  districts  where  the  flowers  and  the 
tubers  are  used,  as  they  were  in  Theophrastus'  time, 

21 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 

for  love  charms.  The  plants  are  hardy  in  this 
country  and  easy  to  cultivate  in  shade  and  leaf 
mould,  to  which  it  is  well  to  add  a  little  lime.  They 
seed  freely,  but  seedlings  take  some  years  to  flower. 

In  our  second  passage  Virgil  treats  the  blossom  as 
a  prophylactic  against  curses  and  '  overlooking.'  The 
Greeks  used  the  powdered  corm  as  a  love  charm. 

The  lexicons  will  have  it  that  '  baccar '  is  the 
foxglove,  though,  as  a  native,  that  plant  does  not 
come  nearer  to  Italy  than  Sardinia,  and  there  seems 
to  be  no  evidence  that  it  was  ever  cultivated.  More- 
over, it  is  not  well  suited  for  a  chaplet. 

Visitors  to  Tivoli  may  find  our  plant  on  Monte 
Catillo  above  the  railway  station. 

Flower  :  C.  Europaeum,  June  to  October. 
C.  repandum,  April  and  May. 
C.    Neapolitanum,    September    and 
October. 
Italian  names  :  Pan-porcino,  Pan-torreno,  and 
Baccare. 

Beta. 

'  late  fundentes  brachia  betae  '  (Mor.  72). 

The  wild  beet  (Beta  maritima)  supplies  nothing 
that  is  useful  to  man,  but  under  cultivation  it  has 
developed  what  are  called  the  roots  of  beet  and  of 
mangel-wurzel.  Our  passage  shows  that  in  Roman 
times  the  leaf  also  had  increased  in  size,  though 
probably  not  to  the  length  of  a  yard  or  so,  as  in 
the  modern  variety  known  as  Chilian  beet.     There 

22 


Beta 

were  two  kinds,  of  which  the  red  must  have  been 
like  our  beet  and  the  white  like  our  mangel.  As 
a  vegetable  neither  was  held  in  much  account. 
What  was  most  valued  was  the  leaf  of  the  species 
now  called  B.  cicla.  Columella  describes  this  species 
as  having  green  leaves  and  a  white  root. 

Flower,  July  and  August. 
Italian  name,  Bietola. 

Buxus. 

'  undantem  buxo  spectare  Cytorum '  (Ge.  ii.  437). 
'  torno  rasile  buxum  '  (ib.  449). 

The  box  (Buxus  sempervirens)  is  a  rare  native  of 
Italy,  as  of  England,  but  was  largely  grown  in 
gardens,  and  suffered  much  from  the  topiary  art. 
Virgil's  line  seems  to  imply  a  preference  for  it  in 
its  natural  state,  though  he  knew  the  woods  of 
Cytorus,  a  mountain  in  Paphlagonia,  only  through 
his  Greek  authorities. 

The  slow-growing  and  hard  wood  is  useful  for 
various  purposes.  Virgil  speaks  of  it  as  made  into 
a  frame  for  ivory  (Ae.  x.  136),  and  into  a  top 
(Ae.  vii.  382);  while  the  'buxus  Berecyntia  matris 
Idaeae '  (Ae.  ix.  619)  is  a  musical  pipe.  The  cheapest 
form  of  writing  tablets  was  made  of  boxwood  and 
wax.  Dennis  mentions  an  Etruscan  wreath  of  box 
sprays  which  was  found  in  a  tomb,  but  the  Greek 
authorities  do  not  seem  to  refer  to  box  as  a  coronary 
tree. 

It  seems  to  have  been  the  box  and  not,  as  Virgil 

23 


Trees,   Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 

implies,  the  yew  that  gave  the  bitterness  to  Corsican 
honey. 

Flower,  March  and  April. 

Italian  names,  Bosso  and  Bossolo. 

Calamus. 

The  Greeks,  from  whom  this  word  was  borrowed, 
use  it  as  a  generic  name  for  reeds,  and  distinguished 
many  species,  among  which  are  our  own  common 
reed,  Phraginites  communis,  sweet  flag,  Acorus 
calamus,  and  the  fine  grass,  sometimes  known  as 
wood  small-reed,  Calamogrostis  epigeios.  Some 
of  the  Roman  prose  writers  on  country  matters 
use  the  name  generically  of  reeds  and  specifically 
of  the  sweet  flag.  In  the  poets  it  seems  also  to 
stand  for  the  whole  or  part  of  the  stem  of  a  reed 
as  put  to  some  use,  or,  like  the  English  halm,  of  the 
stem  of  some  other  plant,  for  instance,  the  lupin 
(Ge.  i.  76).  Virgil  uses  it  once  of  reeds  used  as  vine- 
props  (Ge.  ii.  358),  once  of  an  arrow  (Ae.  x.  140), 
and  some  eight  times  of  a  musical  pipe.  Virgil  can 
hardly  have  failed  to  know  the  sweet  flag,  which 
grows  on  the  Mincio  as  a  native,  and  seems  to 
have  been  imported  for  cultivation  across  the 
Apennines. 

Caltha,  or  Calta. 

'  mollia  luteola  pingit  vaccinia  caltha  '  (Ec.  ii.  50). 

By  a  mistake   Linnaeus   gave   this    name  to  the 
marsh   marigold,   which,  though  a   native  of   Italy, 

24 


Caltha,  or  Calta 

cannot  be  Virgil's  plant.  Corydon's  nosegay,  of 
which  it  forms  a  part,  could  hardly  be  gathered  at 
any  one  season,  and  gives  us  no  guide  to  the  flower- 
ing time  of  our  plant.  Not  much  is  said  of  '  caltha  ' 
by  our  early  authorities.  For  Virgil's  epithet  Colu- 
mella substitutes  flammeola,  with  a  reference  to  the 
fiery  orange  tint  of  the  bridal  veil.  From  Pliny  we 
learn  that  our  plant  had  a  strong  scent,  both  in  the 
leaves  and  in  the  blossom.  All  this  points  to  the 
common  pot  marigold  (Calendula  officinalis),  an 
African,  brought  early  into  cultivation  for  its  use 
in  condiments.  The  yellow  ray  flowers  are  still 
used  in  soups,  and  the  plant  has  naturalized  itself 
here  and  there  both  in  Italy  and  in  England. 

Flower,  July  and  August. 

Italian  names,  Calendula  and  Fiorrancio. 

Carduus. 

'  segnisque  horreret  in  arvis  |  Carduus  ' 

{Ge.  i.  151 ;  cf.  Ec.  v.  39). 

Thistles  are  reckoned  by  Virgil  among  the  plagues 
sent  by  the  gods  into  the  cultivated  fields  in  order 
that  the  farmer  might  not  have  too  easy  a  life.  It 
is  probable  that  several  species  are  covered  by  the 
name,  but  in  Italy,  as  with  us,  the  worst  enemy  is 
the  common  field  thistle  (Carduus  arvensis).  It 
increases  rapidly  by  means  of  stolons,  and  is  hard 
to  eradicate,  because  any  broken  bit  of  them  will 
produce  roots  and  stems.  It  is  well  that  the  flowers 
are  often  barren.    Thus  we  may  put  aside  Dr.  Wood- 

25 


Trees,   Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 

ward's  calculation  that  a  thistle  three  years  old 
might  have  five  hundred  and  seventy-six  million 
grandchildren. 

Another  candidate  is  Centaurea  solstitialis,  St. 
Barnaby's  thistle,  a  yellow -flowered  annual  very 
common  in  Italian  cornfields.  It  is  occasionally 
found  in  England,  where  the  seeds  have  been  intro- 
duced with  those  of  lucerne.  This,  however,  seems 
to  be  '  Tribulus,'  q.v. 

Pliny  and  other  later  writers  give  the  name  of 
1  carduus '  to  the  esculent  cardoon  (Cynara  cardun- 
culus). 

Flower,  summer. 

Italian  names:  Astone  (Carduus). 

Spino  giallo  (Centaurea). 

Carex. 

'carice  pastus  acuta'  (Gt.  iii.  231). 
'  tu  post  carecta  latebas  '  {Ec.  iii.  20). 

Possibly  several  of  the  larger  sedges  are  included 
in  this  name,  but  the  best  claim  to  be  Virgil's  plant 
is  owned  by  that  which  still  bears  the  names  of 
'  carice  '  and  '  caretta.'  This  is  Carex  acuta,  which 
is  common  in  Italy  and  its  islands.  The  flowering 
stems  are  some  three  feet  long,  and  the  leaves  equal 
them.  It  is  rather  common  on  the  Thames  and 
other  English  rivers,  and,  as  Virgil  implies,  no  satis- 
factory food  for  cattle. 

Flower,  April  and  May. 

Italian  names,  Carice,  Caretto,  and  Nocca. 


26 


Casia 
Casia. 

A.  '  humiles  casias  '  (Ge.  ii.  213). 

1  casiae  virides  '  [Ge.  iv.  30  ;  cf.  Ec.  ii.  49). 

B.  'nee  casia  liquidi  corrumpitur  usus  olivi '  (Ge.  ii.  466). 

The  two  plants  are  quite  distinct.  The  first  is 
a  spurge -laurel  (Daphne  Gnidium),  akin  to  the 
spurge-laurel  and  the  mezereon  of  our  gardens.  It 
is  a  native  of  Italy,  but  seems  not  to  occur  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  Apennines.  It  has  a  white  flower, 
which  Virgil  commends  to  bee-keepers,  and  a  small 
red  berry,  very  acrid,  but  used  in  aperient  pills  under 
the  name  of  '  granum  Gnidium.'  The  flowers  were 
used  in  garlands. 

The  second  plant  is  the  cinnamon  of  the  Bible 
(Laurus  cinnamomum).  It  is  an  Oriental  plant,  and 
was  not  cultivated  in  Italy,  but  the  aromatic  bark 
was  imported.  It  was  used  as  a  scent  by  men  who 
liked  scent,  with  oil  when  used  as  an  unguent,  and 
together  with  myrrh  in  funeral  pyres. 

Flower  of  Daphne,  July  to  September. 
Italian     names    of    Daphne,    Dittinella    and 
Erbacorsa. 

Castanea. 

'altae  castaneae'  (Ge.  ii.  14). 
'  castaneas  molles '  (Ec.  i.  82). 
1  castaneae  hirsutae '  (Ec.  vii.  53). 
'castaneas  .  .   .  nuces  '  (Ec.  ii.  52). 

The  sweet  chestnut  (Castanea  sativa)  is  a  tree  of 
uncertain   provenance,   for   the   fruit   of  which   the 

27 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 

Latins  had  no  single  name.  Pliny  says,  with  some 
reason,  that  it  should  rather  be  classed  with  the 
glandes  than  with  the  nuces.  The  epithet  of '  hirsutae 
refers  to  the  prickly  covering  and  '  molles '  to  the 
roasted  kernel,  which  was  a  common  article  of  food. 
Pliny  thought  little  of  it,  and  was  surprised  that 
Nature  had  taken  so  much  pains  to  protect  so  poor 
a  fruit.  The  best  variety  was  known  as  Corellia, 
and  was  supposed  to  have  originated  from  a  graft, 
in  which  both  stock  and  scion  were  of  the  same  tree. 
Chestnut  bread  was  especially  eaten  by  women  at 
fasting  seasons. 

In  autumn  the  large  leaves  completely  cover  the 
ground  under  the  trees,  whence  comes  Milton's 
comparison : 

'  Thick  as  autumnal  leaves  that  strew  the  brooks 
In  Vallombrosa.' 

The  chestnut  was  largely  used  for  cutting  in  a 
young  state,  the  growth  renewing  itself  rapidly,  and 
the  stakes  being  much  used  as  props  for  vines  in 
a  '  vinea.'  We  still  grow  it  in  this  way  as  material 
for  fences. 

The  timber  of  full-grown  trees  was  useful  in  build- 
ing, but  some  Roman  architects  objected  to  its 
excessive  weight. 

Flower,  June. 

Italian  name,  Castagno. 


28 


Cedrus 
Cedrus. 

'  odoratam  stabulis  accendere  cedrum  '  (Ge.  Hi.  414). 
'effigies  .  .  .  antiqua  e  cedro'  (Ae.  vii.  177). 

The  cedar  of  Lebanon  was  not  known  to  the 
ancient  Italians,  and  did  not  come  to  England  until 
the  year  1683,  though  it  seems  that  before  that  the 
name  was  given  to  some  other  conifer.  Virgil's  tree 
is  Juniperus  oxycedrus,  a  native  of  central  and  western 
Italy,  and  is  hardly  more  than  a  shrub,  though  it 
sometimes  runs  up  to  twelve  feet.  In  early  days  wooden 
statues  were  made  of  it.  The  purpose  of  burning 
it  in  stables  was  to  keep  away  snakes.  Circe  worked 
at  her  loom  by  the  light  of  a  fire  of  perfumed  juniper 
(Ae.  vii.  13).  Virgil  also  couples  the  wood  with 
cypress  as  building  and  other  timber  (Ge.  ii.  443). 
The  shrub  refuses  to  grow  satisfactorily  in  our 
climate. 

Flower,  February. 
Italian  name,  Appeggi. 

Cepa. 

1  cepa  rubens  .  .  .  famem  domat '  (Mor.  83). 

The  onion,  Allium  cepa,  is  probably  a  native  of 
Beluchistan,  and  had  broken  into  several  varieties 
before  the  time  of  Aristotle.  Its  Italian  uses  were 
much  as  ours.  As  a  vegetable  it  was  sometimes 
served  in  a  thick  fish-sauce. 

Flower,  June. 
Italian  name,  Cipolla. 

29 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 
Cerasus. 

'  pullulat  ab  radice  aliis  densissima  silva  |  ut  cerasis ' 

{Ge.  ii.  17). 

Virgil  makes  no  mention  of  the  cherry  which  is 
indigenous  in  the  woods  of  Italy.  This  is  the  gean, 
a  tree  without  suckers,  and  with  a  dark  and  some- 
what harsh  fruit,  from  which  is  descended  the 
morello.  Virgil's  cherry  is  Prunus  cerasus,  which 
produces  many  suckers,  is  rather  a  bush  than  a  tree, 
and  affords  a  red  and  juicy  fruit.  It  is  the  origin 
of  most  of  our  cherries.  The  Romans  held  that  it 
was  introduced  into  this  country  by  Lucullus  in 
73  B.C.,  but  it  seems  never  to  have  taken  rank  as 
a  first-rate  fruit.  It  was  thought  that  they  were 
best  gathered  with  the  morning  dew  on  them. 
Eaten  stone  and  all  they  were  accounted  a  remedy 
for  the  gout. 

Flower,  April. 

Italian  name,  Visciolo. 

Cerintha. 

'  cerinthae  ignobile  gramen  '  (Ge.  iv.  63). 

Honeywort  (Cerinthe  aspera)  is  a  common  plant 
in  Italian  fields  and  woody  places,  and  is  still  called 
1  cerinta.'  It  is  allied  to  our  garden  lungworts,  and 
like  some  of  them  has  leaves  spotted  with  white. 
The  flowers  are  yellow,  with  a  purple  base.  Virgil 
joins  it  with  balm  as  material  for  an  ointment  in- 
ducing a  swarm  of  bees  to  settle  in  a  hive. 

The  epithet  applied  to  it  is  difficult,  for  in  habit 

30 


Cerintha 

and  blossom  the  plant  seems  no  more  to  deserve 
it  than  many  others  which  he  names.  It  has  been 
explained  as  an  allusion  to  the  general  distribution 
of  the  plant,  but  this  is  unsati.-factory.  It  seems 
possible  that  Virgil  refers  to  the  little  account  made 
of  honeywort  in  the  works  of  the  Greek  botanists. 
One  is  reminded  of  'the  little  northern  plant,  long 
overlooked,'  which  Linnaeus  chose  to  bear  his  own 
name. 

Flower,  April  and  May. 

Italian  names,  Cerinta,  Scarlattina,  and  Erba- 
tortora. 

Cicuta. 

1  disparibus  septem  compacta  cicutis  |  fistula'  (Ec.  ii.  36). 
'fragili  cicuta'  (Ec.  v.  85). 

Umbelliferous  plants  are  notoriously  difficult  to 
identify,  and  Virgil  may  have  used  our  word  of  any 
plant  of  that  type  which  Shakespeare  and  North- 
amptonshire folk  call  kexes — any  large  plant  of  the 
order  with  hollow  stems.  It  seems  likely  that  what 
was  used  for  executions  at  Athens  was  not  hemlock 
but  cowbane,  to  which  Linnaeus  gave  the  name  of 
Cicuta  virosa.  This  cannot  well  be  Virgil's  plant, 
for  it  is  rare  in  Italy,  and  confined  to  the  lands  north 
of  the  Apennines.  The  Latin  cicuta  was,  however, 
a  poisonous  plant,  and  may  well  have  been  what  we 
call  hemlock  (Conium  maculatum).  If  so,  Linnaeus 
has  transposed  the  names,  giving  to  hemlock  the 
Greek  name  for  cowbane  and  to  cowbane  the  Latin 
name  for  hemlock. 

31 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

Hemlock  is  found  throughout  Italy  and  Sicily. 
In  a  luxuriant  state  its  stems  would  be  too  large  for 
a  pan-pipe,  but  the  smaller  stems  were  of  the  right 
size.  Technically  cicnta  came  to  mean  the  piece 
of  stem  between  two  joints  of  reed. 

The  plant  is  sometimes  six  feet  high,  and  may 
usually  be  recognized  through  the  purple  blotches 
on  the  smooth  stem. 

Flower,  June  and  July. 
Italian  name,  Cicuta. 


Colocasium. 

'  tellus  |  mixta  .  .  .  ridenti  colocasia  fundet  acantho  ' 

(Ec.  iv.  20). 

The  caladiums,  as  our  gardeners  call  them,  of 
which  Virgil's  species  is  Colocasia  antiquorum,  the 
Indian  taro,  are  akin  to  the  arum  or  '  lords  and 
ladies '  of  our  woodlands.  In  Virgil's  time  they 
were  grown  in  Egypt,  and  the  esculent  roots  im- 
ported to  Rome.  They  are  not  very  good  eating, 
and  Dioscorides  recommends  boiling  them  to  make 
them  less  sharp  to  the  palate.  According  to  Pliny, 
the  large  leaves  were  made  into  the  drinking  cups 
which  Horace  and  Didymus  call  '  ciboria.'  In  later 
days  the  plant  was  introduced  into  Italy,  but,  except 
in  the  extreme  south,  it  had  to  be  protected  with 
mats  against  hard  weather.  In  Sicily  it  has  estab- 
lished itself  by  the  sides  of  streams. 

Some  of  the  American  caladiums  appear  in  state 
at  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society's  shows,  and  have 

32 


Colocasium 

a  violent  sort  of  beauty,  which  commends  them  to 
the  stoves  of  Dives,  but  they  do  not  excite  the  envy 
of  a  mere  Corycian.  They  have,  however,  some 
value  in  sub-tropical  gardening. 

Flower,  spring. 

Italian  name,  Colocasia. 

CORIANDRUM. 

'exiguo  coriandra  trementia  filo'  (Mor.  90). 

Coriander  (Coriandrum  sativum)  is  an  umbel- 
laceous  plant,  a  native  of  the  East,  and  cultivated 
in  very  early  times  for  the  sake  of  its  seeds.  These 
seeds  are  mentioned  in  the  Book  of  Exodus.  They 
were  used  medicinally  and  in  cakes.  The  word 
*  filum  '  is  used  of  the  habit  of  a  plant  or  possibly 
of  the  stem.  Our  plant  has  a  slender  stem,  and  the 
poet's  description  contrasts  it  with  such  stout  kins- 
men as  '  ferula.' 

Flower,  May  and  June. 

Italian  name,  Coriandola. 

Cornus. 

'  lapidosa  .  .  .  corna'  (Ae.  iii.  649  ;  Ge.  ii.  34). 

The  cornelian  cherry  (Cornus  mas),  near  akin  to 
our  dogwood,  is  a  native  of  Greece  and  Italy.  It 
grows  to  the  height  of  fifteen  feet,  and  in  March  its 
yellow  flowers  are  conspicuous  on  the  leafless  boughs. 
It  seems  to  have  been  for  the  sake  of  its  flowers  that 
it  was  first  cultivated,  for  Theophrastus  tells  us  that 

33  D 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 

the  fruit  of  the  wild  form  was  sweeter  and  better. 
It  is  good  for  preserving,  but  in  my  garden  is  usually 
cut  off  by  frost. 

Virgil's  epithet  cannot  mean  more  than  that  the 
fruit  has  a  stone.  He  can  hardly  mean  to  speak  ill 
of  it,  for  he  says,  though  here  he  must  be  in  error, 
that  it  was  sometimes  grafted  on  the  sloe.  It  is  true 
that  in  our  first  passage  the  marooned  Achaemenides 
complains  that  he  had  to  live  on  '  victum  infelicem, 
bacas  lapidosaque  corna  ' ;  but  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  he  might  regard  even  a  fairly  good  fruit 
as  unnourishing  when  it  was  his  only  food.  The 
boy  who  plays  the  micher  and  eats  blackberries, 
though  he  likes  them  well  enough,  would  be  sulky  if 
on  his  coming  home  at  night  his  mother  said  there 
was  nothing  in  the  stew-pot.  Pliny,  indeed,  had  no 
great  fondness  for  cornels,  for  he  says  that  they  were 
dried  in  the  sun,  like  prunes,  just  to  show  that  there 
was  nothing  not  created  for  man's  belly. 

In  the  early  days  of  Rome  the  stem  of  the  tree, 
'  bona  bello  cornus '  (Ge.  ii.  448),  was  made  into  a 
lance  shaft.  Hence  in  poetry  '  cornus  '  sometimes 
means  a  lance  (Ae.  ix.  698,  xii.  267).  Better  material, 
such  as  the  ash,  was  afterwards  employed.  Usually 
the  timber  was  too  small  for  anything  but  wedges 
and  the  spokes  of  wheels.  For  these  its  hardness 
made  it  fit. 

Flower,  February. 

Italian  names,  Corniolo  and  Crogniolo. 


34 


Corylus 
Corylus. 

'  inter  densas  corylos  '  (Ec.  i.  14). 
1  edurae  coryli '  (Ge.  ii.  65). 

The  hazel,  Corylus  Avellana,  gets  its  specific  name 
from  the  Campanian  town  of  Abella,  where  possibly 
the  filbert  was  first  grown.  The  slopes  of  Palestrina 
were  also  famous  for  nuts,  which  were  therefore 
often  called  '  nuces  Praenestinae.'  Virgil  makes  no 
mention  of  the  fruit,  but  Theophrastus  compares  its 
flavour  to  that  of  olive-oil. 

The  tree  was  grown  for  firewood,  and  in  Tuscany 
you  may  still  see  women  carrying  home  large  faggots 
of  it  standing  upright  in  baskets  bound  to  their 
backs.  Virgil  forbids  the  planting  of  it  among  vines 
(Ge.  ii.  299).  The  reason  is  that  its  roots  spread 
and  take  much  out  of  the  soil.  When  the  goat  was 
sacrificed  as  an  enemy  to  the  vines  (ib.  390),  the 
spits  on  which  the  entrails  were  roasted  were  made 
of  hazel  wood,  and  it  may  be  supposed  that  these 
spits  also,  as  the  product  of  an  enemy  to  the  vine, 
were  afterwards  consigned  to  the  flames. 

Catkins,  winter ;  female  flower,  March. 
Italian  name,  Nocciuolo. 

Crocus. 

'  crocum  .  .  .  rubentem '  (Ge.  iv.  182). 
1  picta  croco  .  .  .  vestis  '  {At.  ix.  614). 

Of  the  crocus  a  dozen  species  are  found  in 
Italy,  but  Virgil's  plant  is  only  the  saffron  (Crocus 
sativusj,  which  gets  its  name  from  an  Arabic  word 

35 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

for  yellow.  The  perianth  of  the  flower  is  purplish, 
but  the  stigmata,  from  which  the  dye  comes,  are,  as 
Martyn  says,  of  the  colour  of  fire.  It  must,  I  think, 
be  to  the  stigmata  that  Virgil's  epithet  applies.  The 
dye  is  too  distinctly  yellow,  and  a  yellow  blush  would 
exceed  even  the  ancient  capacity  for  confounding 
colours. 

As  a  native  plant  the  saffron  extends  from  Kurdi- 
stan to  the  Mediterranean,  and  some  botanists  regard 
it  as  a  native  of  Italy.  Arcangeli,  however,  says 
that  it  is  only  naturalized  in  his  country,  and  Virgil 
seems  to  hold  that  opinion,  for  he  says  that  the 
saffron  perfume  came  from  Tmolus,  a  range  of 
mountains  in  Lydia.  Theophrastus,  however,  holds 
that  the  best  was  made  in  Aegina  and  in  Cilicia, 
but  he  adds  that  the  plant  was  plentiful  about 
Cyrene  in  North  Africa.  The  Cilician  brand  was 
generally  preferred  at  Rome. 

The  product  of  the  stigmata  had  three  uses :  as 
a  scent,  as  a  dye,  and  as  an  ingredient  in  cookery. 
As  a  scent  it  is  coupled  in  the  Song  of  Solomon  with 
spikenard,  and  at  Rome  mixed  with  wine  it  was 
used  as  a  spray  in  the  theatres  and  on  the  floors 
of  rooms.  Jt  was  also  put  into  a  pot-pourri.  As 
a  dye  for  clothing  it  was  regarded  as  somewhat 
Oriental  and  luxurious.  Virgil  makes  the  fierce 
Numanus,  a  primitive  Italian,  taunt  the  followers  of 
Aeneas  with  their  yellow  and  purple  robes  :  *  Vobis 
picta  croco  et  fulgenti  murice  vestis '  {Ac  ix.  614). 
Nevertheless,  Virgil  must  often  have  seen  women 
at  least  wearing  it.     For  its  abiding  use  in  cookery 

36 


Crocus 

we  may  refer  to  the  clown  in  The  Winters  Tale, 
who  must  have  saffron,  he  says,  to  colour  the  warden 
pies,  but  nowadays  it  seems  to  be  supplanted  by 
cochineal. 

Tennyson's  line, 

1  And  at  their  feet  the  crocus  brake  like  fire,' 

must  refer  to  C.  aureus,  which  is  not  found  in  Italy. 
It  is  the  parent  of  our  yellow  crocuses.  Our  large 
purple  crocuses  come  from  C.  versicolor,  which 
grows  in  the  hills  by  Nice  and  Mentone. 

Flower,  autumn. 
Italian  name,  Zafferano. 


Cucumis. 

'  tortus  .  .  .  per  herbam  j  cresceret  in  ventrem  cucumis ' 

(Ge.  iv.  121). 

The  cucumber  (Cucumis  sativus)  was  of  Eastern 
origin  and  in  early  cultivation,  and  a  lodge  in  a 
garden  of  cucumbers  is  the  Oriental  equivalent  of 
Tony  Weller's  pike.     Virgil's  phrase  is  precise. 

Some  kind  of  garden  frame,  '  speculare,'  was  used 
by  Roman  gardeners,  but  it  is  not  clear  whether  as 
early  as  Virgil's  time.  Columella  says  that  frames 
gave  Tiberius  his  cucumbers  in  winter,  and  Martial 
(viii.  14)  implies  that  these  '  specularia '  were  no 
rarities  under  Domitan. 

Flower,  summer. 
Italian  name,  Cetriolo. 

37 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 
Cucurbita. 

'gravis  in  latum  demissa  cucurbita  ventrem'  (Mor.  76). 

The  original  country  of  the  pumpkins  and  gourds 
is  in  some  doubt.  The  kind  named  in  our  line  is 
perhaps  Cucurbita  Pepo,  which  was  brought  from 
the  Levant  to  England  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth. 
By  Columella's  time  there  were  several  varieties  in 
Italy,  perhaps  some  species  and  others  hybrids. 
Pumpkins  were  cheap  food,  and  an  economical  or 
niggardly  entertainer  could  make  of  one  fruit  a  dozen 
different  dishes  by  cutting  it  into  different  shapes 
and  cooking  the  sections  in  different  ways. 

Flower,  summer. 
Italian  name,  Zucca. 

CUPRESSUS,   OR   CYPARISSUS. 

'  coniferae  cyparissi '  (Ae.  iii.  680). 

'  Idaeis  .  .  .  cyparissis '  (Ge.  ii.  84). 

'vittis  atraque  cupresso '  (Ae.  iii.  64). 

'ferales  .  .  .  cupressos  '  (Ae.  vi.  216). 

'  quantum  lenta  solent  inter  viburna  cupressi '  (Ec.  i.  26). 

The  cypress  (Cupressus  sempervirens)  seems  to 
have  travelled  westward  from  the  Taurus  moun- 
tains, and  Virgil  may  be  right  in  taking  it  for  a 
native  also  of  the  Caucasus  (Ge.  ii.  443).  In  speak- 
ing of  cypresses  of  Ida  (ib.  84)  he  seems  to  have  in 
mind  the  belief  of  Theophrastus  that  the  tree  was 
native  in  Crete.  In  travelling  by  railway  in  Italy 
you  may  often  descry  on  the  hillside  a  square  en- 
closed by  cypresses,  whose  fastigiate  growth  makes 

38 


Cupressus,  or  Cvparissus 

them  easy  to  recognize  at  a  considerable  distance. 
The  square  is  a  cemetery,  and  you  remember  that 
Virgil's  epithet  for  the  tree  is  '  feralis '  (Ae.  vi.  216). 
The  association  of  the  cypress  with  funerals  seems 
to  be  unexplained,  for  we  can  hardly  accept  Varro's 
view  that  the  trees  sheltered  the  mourners  from  the 
smell  of  the  burning  body.  The  timber  was  used  in 
house-building  (Ge.  ii.  443). 

The  cypress  is  probably  a  long-lived  tree.  When 
Mrs.  Piozzi  visited  the  famous  garden  at  Verona  in 
the  year  1785  she  asked  how  old  the  cypresses  were, 
and  was  told  between  four  and  five  hundred  years. 
On  visiting  the  garden  some  twenty  years  ago  I  put 
the  same  question  to  the  custodian  and  received  the 
same  answer.  To  such  consistency  as  this  a  change- 
able mortal  can  but  make  a  humble  bow. 

The  meaning  of  '  coniferae,'  as  applied  to  our  tree, 
was  disputed  by  the  ancient  commentators.  Some 
were  for  the  obvious  sense  of  cone-bearing.  The 
cones  of  the  cypress,  which  are  about  an  inch  in 
diameter,  though  less  arresting  than  those  of  a  fir, 
are  distributed  over  the  whole  tree.  Other  authori- 
ties, pointing  to  Ovid's  '  metas  imitato  cupressus,' 
considered  Virgil  to  mean  that  the  leafy  part  of  the 
tree  was  shaped  like  the  turning-post  in  a  chariot  race. 

The  cypress  was  sometimes  grown  to  support 
vines.  In  that  case  it  was  recommended  to  plant 
the  vine  at  some  distance  from  the  tree  and  train 
it  accordingly. 

Flower,  April. 
Italian  name,  Cipresso. 
39 


Trees,   Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 

Cytisus. 

'florentem  cytisum  '  (Ec.  i.  78,  ii.  64). 

'  sic  cytiso  pastae  distendant  ubera  vaccae'  (Ec.  ix.  31). 

'  nee  cytiso  saturantur  apes'  (Ec.  x.  30). 

'tondentur  cytisi '  (Ge.  ii.  431  ;  cf.  Ge.  iii.  394). 

Virgil's  plant  (Medicago  arborea)  is  not  wild  in 
the  Cisalpine,  and  he  probably  made  his  first  ac- 
quaintance with  it  in  the  poems  of  Theocritus.  In 
Sicily  it  is  somewhat  common,  and  Theocritus 
mentions  it  as  food  for  goats.  The  plant,  however, 
is  a  native  of  Tuscany,  and,  as  it  was  evidently  con- 
sidered valuable,  it  may  have  been  cultivated  in 
Virgil's  country.  It  is  a  tallish  shrub,  akin  to  the 
clovers.  Virgil's  epithet  seems  to  imply  that  as  food 
for  goats  it  is  best  in  the  flowering  season,  which  is 
from  May  to  July.  Theophrastus  says  that  it  is 
destructive  even  to  trees,  and  it  seems  to  have 
hungry  roots. 

The  fourth  passage  suggests  that,  as  cattle  and 
goats  are  fond  of  the  plant,  farmers  do  well  to 
grow  it. 

Flower,  May  to  July. 

[I  have  never  heard  and  cannot  find  any  Italian 
name  for  this  plant.  The  name  of  citiso  has  been 
transferred  to  the  laburnum.] 

Dictamnum. 

1  dictamnum  .  .  .  puberibus  caulem  foliis  et  flore  coman- 
tem  I  purpureo'  (Ac  xii.  412). 

Here  we  have  a  plant  which   Virgil  can   hardly 

have   seen,    and   whose    description   he    took   from 

40 


Dictamnum 

others.  The  plant  is  Origanum  dictamnus,  a  little 
shrub  with  pink  flowers,  which  is  akin  to  marjoram. 
The  leaves,  as  Virgil  says,  are  covered  with  thick 
wool.  Theophrastus  was  informed  that  they  spoke 
truth  who  said  that  if  goats  ate  it  when  they  had 
been  shot  it  ejected  the  arrow.  With  more  truth 
Pliny  says  that  the  leaves  had  some  power  to  cure 
wounds. 

The  plant  was  brought  from  Crete  to  England  in 
the  reign  of  Edward  VI.,  but  our  winters  are  too 
hard  for  it,  and  it  is  not  in  general  cultivation. 

Flower,  summer. 
Italian  name,  Dittamo. 

Ebulus. 

'  sanguineis  ebuli  bacis  '  (Ec.  x.  27). 

The  danewort,  or  dwarf  elder  (Sambucus  ebulus), 
is  a  very  common  weed  in  Italy,  and  still  bears  the 
name  of  ebbio.  It  is  rather  like  the  elder,  but  is  an 
herbaceous  plant,  not  a  tree.  The  reddish-black 
berries  give  a  blue  dye,  but  their  colour,  when 
smeared  on  fresh,  might  be  called  red.  It  is  said 
that  statues  of  Pan  were  painted  red. 

The  plant  has  established  itself  here  and  there  in 
England,  whither  legend  says  it  was  brought  by  the 
Danes.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been  used  by  them 
like  woad  as  a  dye  for  the  human  skin. 

Flower,  June. 

Italian  names,  Ebbio,  Lebbio,  and  Colore. 

4i 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 
Eruca. 

'  venerem  revocans  eruca  morantem  '  (Mor.  85). 

This  little  cruciferous  plant,  though  called  rocket 
in  some  books,  really  has  no  English  name.  In 
actual  use  the  name  of  rocket  is  applied  to  some 
species  of  brassica  and  hesperis.  Our  plant  is  Eruca 
sativa,  which  in  early  spring  bears  a  whitish  flower 
tinged  with  violet.  It  grows  in  fields  and  open 
places,  and  its  leaves  are  gathered  for  use  in  salads. 
In  this  country  it  seems  not  to  be  in  cultivation. 

Flower,  February  to  May. 

Italian  names,  Rucola  and  Ruchetta. 

Ervum. 

1  quam  pingui  macer  est  mihi  taurus  in  ervo '  (Ec.  iii.  100). 

This  species  of  vetch,  Vicia  ervilia,  is  closely  akin 
to  the  lentil,  but  its  flowers  are  pinkish,  while  those 
of  the  lentil  are  white  and  smaller.  Unlike  the 
lentil,  it  is  regarded  as  a  native  of  Italy,  and  is 
cultivated  there  as  fodder  for  cattle. 

Flower,  June. 

Italian  names,  Mochi,  Capogirlo,  and  Zirlo. 

Faba. 

'  vere  fabis  satio  '  (Ge.  i.  215  ;  cf.  Ge.  i.  74). 

On  the  season  for  sowing  the  field  bean  (Vicia 
faba)  Virgil  is  not  at  one  with  the  ancient  Italian 
authorities,   who   commend  October  or  November. 

42 


Faba 

But  Virgil  was  a  Gaul,  and  in  the  land  of  the  Po 
the  bean  was  sown  in  February. 

Italian  botanists  believe  the  bean  to  be  of  Asiatic 
origin,  while  other  authorities  hold  that  it  was  de- 
veloped from  some  native  vetch.  In  Sicily  the 
young  seeds  are  regarded  as  a  fruit  and  eaten  raw, 
the  outer  skin  being  first  removed. 

Virgil  recommends  that  in  the  rotation  of  crops 
wheat  should  follow  beans,  '  laetum  siliqua  quassante 
legumen.'  The  advice  is  sound,  for  it  is  now  known 
that  leguminous  plants  have  the  property  of  fixing 
the  nitrogen  of  the  air. 

The  meaning  of  'siliqua  quassante'  is  disputed. 
I  believe  Martyn  to  be  right  in  seeing  a  reference 
to  the  method  of  threshing  beans.  The  halms  are 
laid  on  the  edge  of  the  threshing-floor,  and  pushed 
across  it  by  the  feet  of  three  or  four  men,  who  as 
they  go  beat  the  halm  with  sticks.  The  beans  drop 
on  to  the  floor,  the  halm  is  bundled  at  the  other  end 
of  the  floor,  and  winnowing  is  needless. 

Beans  were  ground  into  meal,  on  which  swine  and 
other  beasts  were  fed.  As  food  for  man  it  took  the 
lowest  rank,  though  it  seems  to  have  been  frequently 
eaten  by  artisans. 

Flower,  April  to  June. 
Italian  name,  Fava. 

Fagus. 

'  patulae  recubans  sub  tegmine  fagi ' 
(Ec.  i.  i ;  cf.  Ec.  ii.  3,  iii.  37,  ix.  9;  Ge.  i.  173,  ii.  71). 

This  name  is  etymologically  identical  with  beech, 
and  in  Latin  and  English  keeps  its  meaning,  which, 

43 


Trees,   Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 

if  it  be  connected  with  (fxiyelv,  refers  to  the  esculent 
mast.  In  Greek  the  name  was  transferred  to  the 
Valonia  oak. 

The  beech  (Fagus  silvatica)  is  native  to  a  trian- 
gular region  of  which  the  points  are  Cilicia,  Spain, 
and  Norway.  Theophrastus  says  that  in  Latium 
the  beeches  were  splendid,  and  from  them  was 
named  the  spur  of  the  Esquiline  called  Fagutal. 
Virgil's  epithet  is  well  illustrated  by  the  great  tree 
at  Knowle  with  its  diameter  of  over  a  hundred  feet. 

The  wood  is  used  for  carpentry  and  carpenter's 
tools  and  for  bowls  and  cups.  Menalcas  prizes  the 
beechen  cups  carved  by  Alcimedon,  possibly  a  friend 
of  Virgil,  whom  he  took  this  occasion  to  compliment 
(Ec.  iii.  37).  When  Cowley  and  Wordsworth  speak 
of  the  beechen  bowl  as  characteristic  of  country  life, 
they  probably  follow  Virgil,  for  in  England  the 
maple  was  mostly  used  for  this  work.  The  fruit 
or  mast  of  the  tree  is  included  under  the  name  of 
'  glans,'  which  also  covers  the  fruit  of  all  oaks.  The 
strength  of  the  timber  causes  Virgil  to  recommend 
the  use  of  it  for  the  staff  of  the  plough.  Thin  planks 
of  it  can,  however,  be  bent,  and  thus  it  was  the 
usual  wood  for  making  the  circular  bookcases  called 
*  scrinia.' 

Groups  of  beech-trees  were  sometimes  allowed  to 
stand  until  the  trees  were  old  and  as  timber  worth- 
less. We  may  hope  that  the  love  of  beauty  was  in 
part  the  cause  of  this  uneconomic  course,  and  regret 
that  it  now  has  less  force  in  Italy.  Although  Virgil 
habitually  blends  Sicilian  and  Cisalpine  scenery,  it 

44 


Fagus 

looks  as  though  '  the  old  beeches,  now  broken  tops,' 
of  the  ninth  Eclogue  were  a  landmark  on  his  Man- 
tovan  estate.  Against  this  view  it  must  be  admitted 
that  nowadays  the  tree  does  not  descend  to  so  low 
a  level  above  sea.  The  shepherd  in  the  fifth  Eclogue 
disfigures  a  young  beech  by  cutting  his  song  on  it, 
words  and  tune,  and  Gallus  in  the  tenth  may  be  sup- 
posed to  use  the  same  tree  for  his 

'  Woeful  ballads 
Made  to  a  mistress'  eyebrow.' 

Beech  bark  could  be  used  as  writing  material,  and 
some  editors  think  that  the  shepherd  so  used  it. 

Flower,  April. 
Italian  name,  Faggio. 

Far. 

'robusta  .  .  .  farra    (Ge.  i.  219). 

'flava  .  .  .  farra'  (ib.  73). 

'farre  pio  .  .  .'  (Ae.  v.  745). 

'mola  .  .  .  testatur  deos '  (Ae.  iv.  517). 

'adorea  liba'  (Ae.  vii.  109). 

Spelt  (Triticum  spelta)  is  an  inferior  variety  of 
wheat  (T.  vulgare).  The  legend  that  wheat  was  the 
invention  of  Osiris  may  perhaps  mean  that  wheat 
was  developed  from  spelt  in  Egypt.  Spelt  was  the 
original  corn  of  the  Romans,  and  was  never  sup- 
planted by  wheat  in  ceremonial  and  sacrificial  use. 
Hence  '  confarreatio '  was  the  original  and  remained 
the  most  binding  form  of  marriage.  The  grain  was 
called  '  ador,'  and  the  cakes  made  of  it  had  associa- 
tions like  those  of  our  pancakes  and  hot-cross  buns. 

45 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

Coarsely  ground,  partly  roast,  and  mixed  with  salt, 
it  was  called  mola,  and  used  in  sacrifices  and  incan- 
tations (Ec.  viii.  84).  In  our  third  passage  Virgil, 
like  Horace,  uses  '  far '  in  the  sense  of  mola.  From 
the  latter  comes  the  verb  '  immolo,'  to  sacrifice. 

Spelt  is  still  cultivated  in  Italy  on  soils  where 
wheat  fails.  The  covering  of  the  grain  is  as  ad- 
hesive as  that  of  barley. 

The  '  donatio  adorea '  was  in  old  agricultural 
Rome  the  reward  of  a  soldier  for  gallantry.  Thus 
1  adorea '  came  to  mean  victory,  and  is  so  used  in 
a  fine  line  by  Horace,  who  calls  the  day  of  Metaurus 

that 

1  qui  primus  alma  risit  adorea.' 

Like  other  esculent  grasses,  spelt  broke  into 
several  varieties.  The  best  and  whitest  was  grown 
about  Chiusi,  but  another  white  kind  gave  a  heavier 
crop.  The  kind  called  'rutilum'  had  of  course  a 
reddish  grain,  and  was  held  in  less  account. 

Italian  name,  Spelta. 
Ferula. 

'florentes  ferulas  et  grandia  lilia '  (Ec.  x.  25). 

This  splendid  umbelliferous  plant  (Ferula  com- 
munis), though  not  very  common  in  Italy,  is  widely 
distributed  over  the  lower  altitudes.  The  dark 
green  and  finely  divided  leaves  make  a  fine  mound 
in  spring,  and  the  flowering  stem  rises  to  six  feet 
and  in  cultivation  much  more.  It  was  held  that 
this  stem  was  the  means  by  which  Prometheus  con- 

46 


Ferula 

veyed  fire  from  heaven,  and  the  pith  of  it  is  still 
used  as  tinder.  Like  the  lily,  it  is  in  flower  from 
May  to  July.  It  grows  well  in  our  gardens,  though 
the  earliest  leaves  are  apt  to  be  damaged  by  frost, 
and  it  becomes  a  little  ragged  before  the  summer 
is  gone. 

Pan's  garland  in  our  passage  is  one  which  a  man 
of  little  courage  would  hardly  wear,  but  a  god  had 
the  appropriate  stature.  Images  of  Silvanus  repre- 
sent as  large  a  chaplet. 

In  a  dried  state  the  stem  was  the  school  cane, 
the  mildest  instrument  of  corporal  punishment,  the 
climax  being  ferula,  scutica,  flagellum.  It  was  also 
an  old  man's  walking-stick,  and,  if  it  was  so  used  in 
Greece,  perhaps  ought  to  supplant  the  clouded  cane 
in  the  Westminster  Play. 

Flower,  April  to  June. 
Italian  name,  Ferula. 

Filix. 

•  filicem  curvis  invisam  .  .  .  aratris '  (Gc.  ii.  189). 

The  bracken  (Pteris  aquilina)  was  as  common  in 
Italy  as  it  is  with  us.  The  stout  rhizomes  go  very 
deep  and  increase  very  fast.  Though  a  modern 
plough  would  make  little  of  them,  they  could 
doubtless  be  an  obstacle  to  that  which  Virgil  de- 
scribes, and  which  is  still  used  in  the  backward 
districts  of  southern  Italy. 

Bracken  was  useful  as  litter  for  sheep  (Ge.  iii.  297) 
and  probably  also  for  cattle,  as  it  still  is  in  Sussex 

47 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

and  other  parts  of  England.     Pliny  says  that  the 
rhizomes  were  given  to  swine  to  fatten  them. 

Italian  name,  Felce  aquilina. 

Fragum. 

'  humi  nascentia  fraga '  (Ec.  Hi.  92). 

The  wild  strawberry  (Fragaria  vesca)  is  abundant 
in  the  hilly  districts  of  Italy  and  Sicily.  Although 
the  large  strawberry  had  been  developed  before 
Linnaeus  assigned  the  specific  name  to  our  plant, 
it  seems  not  to  have  been  a  Roman  plant.  The 
fruit  of  the  wild  kind  was  valued  below  its  merits. 
Of  all  table  fruits  it  grew  closest  to  the  ground. 

Flower,  April  and  May. 

Italian  names,  Fragola  and  Fravola. 

Fraxinus. 

'  fraxinus  in  silvis  pulcherrima '  (Ec.  vii.  65). 
'ingens  |  fraxinus'  (Ge.  ii.  65). 
'fraxineae  .  .  .  trabes'  (At.  vi.  181). 

The  ash  (Fraxinus  excelsior)  deserves  Virgil's 
epithet  and  its  specific  name,  for  it  out-towers  the 
manna  ash,  and  is  sometimes  nearly  a  hundred  feet 
high. 

The  timber  had  many  uses.  Poles  of  the  younger 
growth  were  used  as  supports  for  vines. 

The  leaves,  like  those  of  the  elm,  were  habitually 
stripped  as  food  for  cattle  (Ec.  ix.  60),  as  they  still 

48 


Fraxinus 

are  in  some  parts  of  northern   England.     In  Italy 
the  hot  summers  often  cause  a  lack  of  herbage. 

Flower,  March  and  April. 
Italian  name,  Frassina. 

Frumentum. 

Ge.  i.  134,  150,  176,  189,  ii.  205,  iii.  176  ;  Ae.  iv.  406. 

This  is  a  general  name  for  corn,  especially  spelt 
and  wheat,  and  when  used  without  qualification 
usually  means  wheat.  Etymologically  the  word 
seems  to  stand  for  frugimentum,  and  so  is  connected 
with  frux,  fruor,  fructus,  and  fruit. 


Genista. 


1  lentae  .  .  .  genistae '  {Ge.  ii.  12). 
'humiles  .  .  .  genistae'  (ib.  434). 


The  fine  yellow  flowers  of  the  Spanish  broom 
(Spartium  junceum)  have  long  been  an  ornament  to 
our  gardens.  It  is  common  in  southern  Italy,  and 
and  is  found  also  in  the  north.  It  grows  on  the 
plains  and  on  dry  and  stony  river  banks.  Virgil 
counts  it  among  bee  plants.  The  rush-like  and 
almost  leafless  branches  were  used  for  withs  to  tie 
up  bundles  and  stalked  fruits.  Pliny  adds  that  it 
yields  a  yellow  dye  like  its  near  kinsman,  the  dyer's 
greenweed,  which  abounds  in  the  Weald  of  Sussex. 
Since  the  shrub  grows  to  the  height  of  eight  feet, 
a  group  of  it  might  afford  shade  to  the  shepherd, 
as  it  does  in  our  second  passage. 

It   is   possible   that  the  name   may  include   also 

49  * 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

the  common  broom  (Cytisus  scoparius),  which  is 
common  in  the  lower  ground  of  Italy,  and  especially 
magnificent  round  the  ruins  of  Veii.  It  is  highly 
probable  that  it  also  includes  the  dyer's  greenweed 
(Genista  tinctoria),  which  must  certainly  be  the 
plant  of  the  '  Pervigilium  Veneris.'  All  leaves  have 
flowers  like  enough  in  shape  and  colour  to  justify 
the  Romans  in  giving  them  one  generic  name. 

Flower,  April  to  July. 

Italian  names :  Ginestra  and  Maggio  (Spar- 
tium). 
Amareccioli,  Estrici,  Rug- 
giulo,  and  Ginestra  de' 
Carbonaj  (Cytisus). 
Baccellina,  Braglia,  Cerretta, 
and  Ginestrella  (Genista). 

Harundo. 

'  fluvialis  harundo  '  (Ge.  ii.  414). 

'  hie  viridis  tenera  praetexit  harundine  ripas  |  Mincius ' 

(Ec.  vii.  12). 
'  harundine  glauca'  (Ac  x.  205). 

'agrestem  tenui  meditabor  harundine  Musam  '  (Ec.  vi.  8). 
'  letalis  harundo  '  (Ac  iv.  73). 

Under  this  name  there  seem  to  be  included  two 
species,  Phragmites  communis,  the  common  reed, 
and  Arundo  donax,  the  great  reed.  The  former 
covers  large  tracts  of  ground  in  most  temperate  and 
some  tropical  regions,  and  it  is  a  frequent  fringe  to 
river  banks.  When  Virgil  calls  his  river  green  he 
may  be  thinking  not  only  of  the  banks  but  of  the 

50 


Harundo 

reflection  of  the  reeds  in  the  water.  The  reddish 
panicle  of  the  reed  turns  grey  in  autumn,  as  is  im- 
plied in  our  third  passage. 

Of  the  reed  could  be  made  pan-pipes  and  the 
shafts  of  arrows.  Plautus  and  other  writers  refer  to 
the  use  of  it  as  thatch.  Pliny  seems  to  say  that  it 
was  so  used  mainly  in  the  north,  while  other  authori- 
ties give  the  bulrush  as  the  plant  used  for  this 
purpose  in  the  south. 

There  were  other  uses  for  which  the  great  reed 
was  more  in  demand.  It  formed  the  middle  bar  in 
the  loom,  not,  as  some  lexicons  give  it,  the  comb. 
Pens  were  made  of  it  and  probably  also  thatch. 
The  long  stems  were  used  as  supports  for  vines, 
for  knocking  down  olives  which  were  too  high  on 
the  tree  to  be  gathered  by  hand,  and  for  fishing- 
rods.  Plashed  alleys  and  pergolas  were  sometimes 
constructed  of  it.  For  these  purposes  it  is  still 
cultivated  in  Italy.  In  the  warmer  parts  of  England 
it  succeeds  in  gardens,  but  on  cold  soils  it  cannot 
bear  our  frosts. 

Flower,  August  and  September. 
Italian  names:  Canna  (A.rundo). 

Canna  di  palude  (Phragmites). 


5i 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 
Hedera,  or  Edera. 

1  hederae  nigrae  '  (Gc.  ii.  258). 

1  hedera  pallente'  (Ec.  iii.  39;  cf.  Ge.  iv.  124). 

'  hedera  formosior  alba'  (Ec.  vii.  38). 

'  errantes  hederas  '  (Ec.  iv.  19). 

1  hedera  crescentem  ornate  poetam  ' 

(Ec.  vii.  25  ;  cf.  Ec.  viii.  13). 

The  ivy  (Hedera  helix)  as  an  evergreen  was  sacred 
to  Bacchus,  and,  since  wine  was  a  source  of  in- 
spiration, became  one  of  the  emblems  of  the  poet. 
Virgil  claims  it  especially  for  the  woodland  poet, 
who  does  not  claim  rank  with  Homer  or  Pindar. 
He  hopes  that  Pollio  will  place  his  protege's  spray 
of  ivy  among  his  own  victorious  bays.  The  berries 
of  the  common  ivy  are  black,  but  those  of  a  rare 
variety,  H.  chrysocarpa,  are  yellow,  and  Pliny  says 
that  these  were  preferred  for  the  poet's  crown. 
Virgil  implies  that  the  Corycian  grew  this  variety  in 
his  garden.  According  to  Arcangeli,  it  grows  in  the 
Neapolitan  district  and  near  Rome  and  Florence. 
The  gardener  may  have  got  it  from  Naples,  whether 
for  the  sake  of  its  rarity  and  beauty  or  to  give  honey 
to  his  bees.  As  it  does  not  flower  until  September, 
it  would  perhaps  not  be  very  valuable  for  the  latter 
purpose.  Columella,  however,  says  that  ivy  supplies 
bees  with  very  much  honey,  though  it  is  not  of  the 
best  quality.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  Virgil 
when  he  wrote  the  Eclogues  had  yet  seen  the  yellow 
fruited  variety.  He  probably  owed  his  knowledge  of 
it  to  Theocritus. 

It   is   difficult   to   see   why   Virgil    reckoned   the 

52 


Hedera,  or  Edera 

presence  of  ivy  as  a  sign  of  a  wickedly  cold  soil. 
In  such  ground  ivy  flourishes,  as  may  be  seen  in  the 
deep  clay  of  some  of  our  woodlands.  It  is  true  that 
it  flourishes  as  vigorously  on  limestone  and  other 
warm  soils. 

Theophrastus  says  that  dry  sticks  of  ivy  are  the 
best  for  lighting  a  fire,  and  they  are.  To  obtain  the 
sacred  spark  of  fire  the  Romans  recommend  the 
rubbing  of  a  piece  of  bay  wood  on  a  piece  of  ivy. 

Flower,  September. 

Italian  names,  Edera  and  Ellera. 

Helleborus. 

'  helleboros  .  .  .  graves  '  (Ge.  iii.  451). 

The  plant  of  which  Virgil  gives  the  Greek  name 
had  also  a  Latin  name,  which  Linnaeus  gave  to 
the  genus.  Our  species  is  lyngwort  (Veratrum 
album).  Visitors  of  the  Apennines  and  the  Alps 
are  struck  by  its  large  plaited  leaves  and  liliaceous 
spike  of  flowers  or,  in  August,  of  seeds,  and  it  some- 
times figures  in  our  gardens.  The  poisonous  quali- 
ties of  the  thick  rhizome  were  well  known  to  the 
ancients,  though  Lucretius  and  Pliny,  while  admit- 
ting that  this  was  mortal  to  man,  held  that  the 
leaves  were  fattening  to  goats.  From  my  own  ob- 
servation I  should  say  that  they  are  always  left  un- 
cropped.  A  decoction  of  the  rhizome  was  accounted 
a  cure  for  madness.  The  recipe  for  it  was  possessed 
by  the  inhabitants  of  Anticyra,  an  island  in  the 
Malian  gulf.     Hence  Horace's  '  naviget  Anticyram  ' 

53 


Trees,   Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

is  a  suggestion  that  his  man  is  mad.  Theophrastus, 
however,  held  that  the  best  variety  grew  on  Mount 
Oeta.  Virgil,  whose  epithet  refers  to  the  poisonous 
quality  of  the  plant,  recommends  its  use  in  a  sheep- 
dip,  which  by  competent  authorities  is  held  to  be 
a  very  good  one.  Modern  gardeners. use  the  pow- 
dered rhizome  to  kill  caterpillars. 

Flower,  June  and  July. 

Italian  names,  Veladro  and  Elabro  bianco. 


Hibiscum. 

'  baedorum  .  .  .  gregem  viridi  compellere  hibisco  ' 

(Ec,  ii.  30). 
'gracili  fiscellam  texit  hibisco'  (Ec.  x.  71). 

From  Dioscorides  and  Theophrastus  we  find  that 

our  plant  had  three  names :  one  that  used  by  Virgil, 

another  that  adopted  by  Linnaeus,  while  the  third 

was  wild  mallow.     We   call    it    the    marsh   mallow 

(Althaea  officinalis),  and  find  it   in   sea   marshes  of 

southern    England.      Its   light    pink   flowers    much 

resemble  those  of  its   kinsmen,  the  mallows.     The 

flowering    stem    is    sometimes    four   feet    high,    and 

could  be  used  as  a  wand  in  driving  kids.     It  yields 

a  long  and  strong  fibre,  out  of  which  the  shepherd 

in  our  second  passage  weaves  a  pliant  basket,  such 

as  we  use  for  carrying  fish.     Virgil  sometimes  uses 

an  adjective  where  we  use  a  noun.     As  he  writes 

'  tenue  aurum/  meaning  threads  of  gold,  so  here  he 

writes  '  gracili    hibisco,'   meaning    fibre  of  mallow. 

54 


Holus 

The   basket   would   serve   for   letting   whey   out   of 
curdled  milk. 

Flower,  May  to  July. 

Italian    names,    Altea,    Benefisci,    and    Mal- 
vaccione, 

Holus. 

'  rarum  .  .  .  holus '  (Ge.  iv.  130). 

This  is  a  general  name  for  kitchen  garden  stuff, 
and  '  holitor '  was  a  greengrocer.  Virgil's  epithet 
means  that  the  plants  were  set  in  rows. 

In  Italy,  especially  in  the  south,  vegetables  play 
a  larger  part  in  the  people's  diet  than  with  us.     The 
volcanic  soil  round  Naples  grows  them  excellently, 
and  in  Taranto  I  have  seen  a  heap  of  lettuce  eight 
feet    high.       Virgil    names    endive,    celery,    garlic, 
cucumber,   and  caladium.      Among   others   that   he 
must  have  known  would  be  cabbage,  turnip,  lettuce, 
nettle,   onion,  and  globe  artichoke.      One  of  them 
might    be    alexanders,   whose    bright   green   leaves 
are  conspicuous  on  the  Dover  cliffs.      Little    more 
than    a   century   ago   Abercrombie   gave   directions 
for  growing  and  blanching  it,  but  it  has  now  dropped 
out  of  use.     Having  tried  it,  I  can  hardly  say  that  it 
deserved  a  better  fate. 

Hordeum. 

*  fragili  .  .  .  hordea  culmo '  (Ge.  i.  317;  cf.  ib.  210). 
Barley  (Hordeum  vulgare)  was  probably  of  Eastern 
origin,  and   must  have  come  early  into  cultivation. 
In  Palestine  it  was  made  into  bread,  and  the  tcpiOtvbs 

55 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

olvos,  which  Xenophon  came  across  in  Asia,  must 
have  been  some  kind  of  ale.  The  Greeks  held  that 
barley  bread  strengthened  the  senses,  and  especially 
the  eyesight. 

Pearl  barley  was  made  into  a  coarse  porridge 
called  '  polenta,'  a  name  afterwards  transferred  to 
the  finer  porridge  made  of  ground  chestnuts,  and 
now  used  of  the  porridge  made  of  maize.  Pliny, 
if  his  text  be  right,  implied  that  the  finer  porridge 
made  of  lentil  meal  was  the  earlier  use  of  Italy,  and 
that  they  took  the  coarser  porridge  from  the  Greeks, 
whose  word  for  it  is  xovBpos. 

Barley  was  given  to  mules  as  we  give  oats  to 
horses,  but  draught  cattle  were  said  to  have  no 
liking  for  it. 

Virgil  accepts  the  Greek  belief  that  barley,  if  ill 
cultivated,  would  degenerate  into  darnel  (Ec.  v.  36). 
His  epithet  contrasts  the  stem  with  the  stronger 
stem  of  wheat. 

Italian  name,  Orzo. 
Hyacinthus  and  Vaccinium. 

'  suave  rubens  hyacinthus  '  (Ec.  iii.  63). 

'  ferrugineos  hyacinthos  '  (Ge.  iv.  183). 

'  latus  niveum  molli  fultus  hyacintho  '  (Ec.  vi.  53). 

1  ille  comam  mollis  iam  tondebat  hyacinthi '  (Ge.  iv.  137). 

'  vaccinia  nigra  leguntur  '  [Ec.  ii.  18). 

'  et  nigrae  violae  sunt  et  vaccinia  nigra  '  (Ec.  x.  39). 

It  seems  probable  that  '  vaccinium '  is  the  Latin 
form  of  vaKivQoSy  and  in  our  last  passage  it  takes  its 
place,  Virgil  following  the  line  of  Theocritus, 

56 


Hyacinthus  and  Vaccinium 

<al  to  'iov  fieXav  eVrt  nal  a  yparrra  vdnivdos. 

Pliny's   '  vaccinium  '   is  an   entirely  different   plant. 
He  calls  it  a  shrub,  and  it  may  possibly  be  the  bilberry. 

No  ancient  flower  has  stirred  more  controversy 
than  this,  and  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  identifica- 
tion even  now  is  beyond  dispute.  Columella  has 
caused  some  complication  by  speaking  of  hyacinths 
not  only  as  '  ferrugineos,'  wherein  he  merely  followed 
Virgil,  but  also  as  '  vel  niveos  vel  caeruleos '  and  as 
1  caelestis  luminis.'  We  may,  however,  leave  out  of 
account  this  sky-blue  hyacinth,  possibly  the  two- 
leaved  squill,  for  beyond  doubt  it  is  not  the  same 
plant  as  Virgil's.  It  may,  however,  be  well  to  bear 
in  mind  that  the  Greeks  applied  the  name  to  several 
flowers,  which  do  not  greatly  resemble  each  other, 
and  that  probably  among  them  are  the  squill,  already 
mentioned,  the  larkspur,  and  the  flower  which  we 
know  as  the  hyacinth. 

Let  us  start  with  the  passage  of  Ovid  in  which,  as 
Martyn  says,  '  the  form  of  the  hyacinth  is  particularly 
described.'  The  poet  is  describing  what  followed 
the  death  of  the  youth  Hyacinthus  : 

'  Ecce  cruor,  qui  fusus  humi  signaverat  herbam, 
Desinit  esse  cruor,  Tyrioque  intentior  ostro 
Flos  oritur  formamque  capit  quam  lilia,  si  non 
Purpureus  color  his,  argenteus  esset  in  illis. 
Non  satis  hoc  Phoebost,  is  enim  fuit  auctor  honoris. 
Ipse  suos  gemitus  foliis  inscribit,  et  ai  ai 
Flos  habet  inscriptum,  funestaque  litera  ductast.' 

Now,  if  this  passage  contained  all  our  information, 
there  could  be  no  doubt  about  our  plant.      There 

57 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

is  only  one  Italian  species  so  near  to  the  white  lily 
as  to  justify  Ovid's  word.  This  is  Lilium  bulbiferum, 
with  its  variety,  as  Arcangeli  ranks  it,  L.  croceum, 
which  the  Romans  are  not  likely  to  have  distin- 
guished from  the  type.  The  figures  in  Curtis's 
Botanical  Magazine  (L.  candidum  278,  L.  bulbi- 
ferum 1018,  and  L.  croceum,  given  with  a  wrong 
name,  36)  show  the  likeness  of  these  plants  in  habit 
and  perianth.  The  objection  that  nothing  very  like 
letters  can  be  found  on  them  applies,  I  believe, 
equally  to  any  other  Italian  lily.  I  cannot  resist 
the  conclusion  that  Ovid  meant  what  our  forefathers 
called  the  red  lily. 

It  does  not,  however,  follow  that  Virgil's  plant 
is  the  same  as  Ovid's.  Martyn  supposed  himself 
to  find  both  in  the  purple  martagon,  L.  martagon 
{B.M.,  893).  He  sinks,  as  Johnson  would  have 
said,  the  wide  differences  between  this  plant  and 
the  white  lily.  In  the  latter  the  perianth  is  erect 
and  its  divisions  but  little  reflexed,  while  the  mar- 
tagon belongs  to  the  Turk's-cap  group,  in  which  the 
perianth  is  cernuous,  and  its  divisions  very  much 
rerlexed.  The  stem  leaves  of  the  martagon  are  in 
distant  whorls,  while  those  of  the  white  lily  are 
irregular  and  even  crowded.  It  is  hard  to  believe 
that  the  martagon  is  Ovid's  plant. 

On  the  question  of  colour  Virgil  does  not  give  us 
much  help,  for  his  '  suave  rubens  '  and  *  ferrugineus  ' 
have  too  wide  a  range.  He  applies  both  to  the  dye 
of  the  Tyrian  shell-fish.  The  ram  in  the  fourth 
Eclogue    has    his    fleece    coloured    '  suave    rubenti 

58 


Hyacinthus  and  Vaccinium 

murice,'  and  in  the  Aeneid  (xi.  772)  the  priest 
Chloreus  is  described  as  '  peregrina  ferrugine  clarus 
et  ostro,'  a  phrase  which  must  be  taken  as  hen- 
diadys.  The  Tyrian  dye  was  probably  both  red 
and  purple,  and  '  rubens '  will  cover  both ;  while 
1  ferrugineus,'  which  is  applied  to  objects  of  less  cheer- 
ful hue,  such  as  Charon's  boat  (Ae.  vi.  303)  and  the 
gloom  in  the  sky  after  Caesar's  death  (Ge.  i.  467),  not 
only  covers  both  but  includes  the  tint  of  a  dull  and 
lowering  purple.  That  '  fulgor  '  is  ascribed  to  the 
hyacinth  (Ae.  xi.  70)  is  rather  against  the  martagon. 
Last  comes  the  matter  of  the  inscription.  In  our 
last  passage  Virgil  omits  the  jpaTrrd  of  his  original, 
but  he  has  a  reference  to  it  in  the  shepherd's  riddle 
(Ec.  iii.  106), 

1  Die  quibus  in  terris  inscripti  nomina  regum 
Nascantur  flores,' 

to  which  the  answer  seems  to  be  Afa?,  who  is  Ajax. 
Martyn  says  that  on  the  martagon  the  dark  spots 
run  together  in  such  a  manner  as  to  form  the 
letters  Al,  '  which,'  he  naively  adds,  '  I  have  caused 
to  be  represented  in  the  figure.'  It  seems  clear  that 
these  marks  had  not  run  together  on  the  specimen 
supplied  to  Cole,  who  drew  the  illustration,  for  the 
addition  is  stiff  and  unnatural.  It  may  be  com- 
pared with  Sowerby's  figure  in  English  Botany, 
where  the  dark  marks  are  drawn  naturally.  I  grew 
the  martagon  as  a  boy  and  I  grow  it  now,  and  never 
in  half  a  century  have  I  seen  on  it  anything  like 
the  letters  which  our  good  professor  '  caused  to  be 
represented.' 

59 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 

One  objection  that  may  be  made  to  the  claim  of 
the  martagon  applies  equally  to  the  red  lily,  if  its  old 
name  may  still  be  used.  It  seems  that  neither  of 
them  grows  wild  in  Sicily.  It  is  of  course  possible 
that  they  become  extinct,  but  in  the  case  of  the 
martagon  this  is  unlikely.  As  Mr.  A.  Grove  says  in 
his  monograph  on  the  genus,  it  is  the  one  lily  that 
will  grow  wherever  the  seed  happens  to  fall.  In 
a  copse  at  Mickleham  it  has  so  completely  estab- 
lished itself,  southerner  though  it  is,  as  to  obtain 
admittance  to  the  English  flora.  It  seems  unlikely 
that  the  martagon  can  be  the  written  hyacinth  of 
Theocritus. 

There  is,  moreover,  a  Sicilian  flower  the  inside  of 
whose  perianth  bears  marks,  which  do  frequently 
take  the  form  of  an  A,  with  a  smaller  blotch  after  it, 
which  one  could  plausibly  'cause  to  be  represented' 
as  an  I.  This  is  the  corn-flag  (Gladiolus  segetum). 
Of  many  specimens  which  I  gathered  near  Selinunte 
and  near  Catania  almost  all  had  marks,  and  about 
one  in  five  had  the  marks  described  above.  A  figure 
of  a  kindred  species,  G.  communis,  is  given  in  Eng- 
lish Botany,  but  this  has  no  marks  that  resemble 
letters.  It  is  against  the  corn-flag's  claim  and  some- 
what in  favour  of  the  martagon's  that  the  shepherds 
in  Theocritus  seek  the  hyacinth  in  the  hills. 

Flower:  Lilies,  July  and  August. 
Corn-flags,  April  to  July. 

Italian  names :  Giglio    Rosso   (Lilium    bulbi- 
ferum). 

60 


Intubum 

Italian  names  :  Spaderello,  Coltellaccio,  Pan- 
caciolo  (Gladiolus). 
Martagone     (Lilium     marta- 
gon). 

Intubum. 

'amaris  intuba  fibris '  {Ge.  i.  120). 

1  potis  gauderent  intuba  rivis'  {Ge.  iv.  120). 

There  is  some  uncertainty  about  this  plant,  but  it 
is  probably  endive,  and  some  botanists  hold  that 
endive  is  a  cultivated  form  of  Cichorium  divaricatum, 
a  Mediterranean  plant  which  is  a  rare  native  of 
Italy.  It  is  a  salad  plant,  and  being  harder  than 
lettuce  is  of  special  value  in  the  winter.  It  is  best 
blanched,  since  otherwise  the  bitterness  of  the  leaves 
is  excessive.  The  same  bitterness  is  found  in  the 
root,  and  Columella  may  refer  to  the  root  or  to  the 
leaves  when  he  says  that  it  is  a  stimulant  to  a  torpid 
palate.  The  plant  is  closely  allied  to  succory  or 
chicory,  of  which  various  forms  are  grown  both  for 
the  root  and  for  the  blanched  leaves.  The  form 
of  endive  mostly  grown  in  our  gardens  is  said  to 
have  been  produced  in  China. 

Flower,  April  to  June. 

Italian  name,  Endivia. 

Ilex. 

'  ilice  sub  nigra'  {Ec.  vi.  54). 
'sub  arguta  .  .  .  ilice  '  {Ec.  vii.  1). 
'  opaca  I  ilice  '  {Ae.  vi.  208  ;  cf.  Ae.  xi.  851). 

The  holm  or  holly-oak  (Quercus  ilex)  is  one  of  the 
finest  of  Italian  trees.     There  is  a  magnificent  line 

61 


Trees,   Shrubs,   and  Plants  of  Virgil 

of  them  along  the  Galleria  di  sopra  near  Albano, 
but  the  tree  does  not  go  high  into  the  Apennines. 
The  leaves  are  much  darker  than  those  of  the 
common  oak  and  usually  untoothed,  and  the  tree 
is  evergreen.  In  a  wind  there  is  a  harsh  rustling 
in  the  leaves.  The  acorns,  which  are  small  but 
plentiful  (Ge.  iv.  81),  are  food  for  swine  {Ge.  ii.  72  ; 
Ae.  iii.  390).  The  wood  was  used  for  making  water- 
troughs  {Ge.  iii.  330).  Bees,  says  Virgil,  sometimes 
establish  themselves  in  the  body  of  a  decaying  holm- 
oak  {Ge.  ii.  453). 

In  England  the  tree  has  been  grown  since  Eliza- 
beth's time,  and  attains  full  stature,  but  is  apt  to 
divide  into  two  or  more  stems.  Perhaps  the  finest 
specimen  is  one  in  the  town  of  Uckfield. 

The  gall,  '  coccum,'  which  yields  a  scarlet  dye, 
seems  to  be  most  common  on  Q.  coccifera,  but  our 
ancient  authorities  say  that  it  was  also  found  on  the 
holm-oak. 

Flower,  April  and  May. 
Italian  name,  Elice. 

Inula. 

'  malvaeque  inulaeque  virebant '  {Mor.  73). 

Elecampane  (Inula  Helenium)  is  found  here  and 
there  in  Italy  as  in  England,  but  appears  to  be 
nowhere  very  common.  My  own  plants  generally 
produce  a  few  self-sown  seedlings.  It  was  cultivated 
for  its  bitter  root,  which  were  used  both  as  a  table 
vegetable  and  as  a  medical  remedy.     It  was  boiled 

62 


Inula 

with  vinegar.  The  plant  is  worth  growing  in  rough 
places  for  the  sake  of  its  large  leaves  and  bold  com- 
posite heads  of  yellow  blossom,  but  it  goes  ragged 
rather  early. 

Flower,  July  and  August. 
Italian  name,  Elenio. 

Juncus. 

'  limoso  .  .  .  palus  obducat  pascua  iunco '  {Ec.  i.  49). 
'  aiiquid  .  .  .  quorum    indiget    usus   |    viminibus    mollique 
paras  detexere  iunco'  (Ec.  ii.  71). 

Under  this  name  are  included  our  common  plait- 
ing rushes,  Juncus  effusus  and  J.  conglomeratus,  and 
probably  other  species.  Both  kinds  are  too  common 
in  the  marshy  lands  round  Mantova,  and,  although 
the  first  Eclogue  gives  us  a  deliberate  confusion  of 
Cisalpine  and  Sicilian  scenery,  it  is  probable  that 
Virgil's  father  had  to  fight  against  a  w7eed  which 
cattle  will  not  eat.  In  the  passage  of  Theocritus 
which  Virgil  follows  the  rushes  are  woven  into 
baskets.  They  were  also  used  for  making  ropes, 
the  use  of  hemp  fibre  being  unknown.  Larger  ropes 
were  made  of  flax. 

Flower,  June  and  July. 
Italian  name,  Giunco. 

Juniperus. 

'  stant  et  iuniperi '  (Ec.  vii.  53). 
'  iuniperi  gravis  umbra'  [Ec.  x.  76). 

The  common  juniper  (Juniperus  communis),  as  it 
grows  on  the  South  Downs,  is  a  somewhat  scrubby 

63 


Trees,   Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 

object,  but  in  favourable  positions  becomes  a  shapely 
tree  eighteen  or  twenty  feet  high.  It  is  very  common 
in  Italy  and  attains  this  height  in  the  lower  country. 
It  owes  its  name,  which  means  Juno's  pear,  to  its 
sweet  and  fragrant  fruits,  which  do  not  ripen  until 
the  second  summer.  The  seeds,  which  in  later 
times  flavoured  gin,  may  also  have  been  eaten. 

The  Italians  have  a  proverb,  '  Dove  non  viene  il 
Sole,  non  viene  la  Santa.'  This  applies  to  the 
houses,  and  out  of  doors  the  hour  after  sunset,  to 
which  our  second  passage  refers,  is  accounted  un- 
healthy. I  know  no  reason  why  the  shade  of  the 
juniper  should  be  accounted  especially  baneful. 

Flower,  February  to  April. 

Italian  names,  Ginepro  and  Zinepro. 

Labrusca  :  see  Vitis. 

Lactuca. 

'  grata  .  .  .  nobilium  requies  lactuca  ciborum  '  (Mor.  76). 

The  lettuce  (Lactuca  sativa)  is  held  by  Italian 
botanists  to  have  been  developed  out  of  their  native 
species,  L.  scariola.  In  earlier  Roman  days  it 
ended  the  meal,  but  afterwards  was  hors  d'ceuvre  at 
the  beginning,  and  was  accounted  an  appetizer.  As 
with  us,  lettuces  were  blanched.  This,  however,  was 
done,  not  by  tying  up,  but  by  putting  stones  on  the 
plant,  much  as  we  treat  endive.  There  were  at 
least  two  varieties,  of  which  one  had  a  brownish  leaf. 

Flower,  July  to  October. 

Italian  name,  Lattuga. 

64 


Lappa  and  Tribulus 
Lappa  and  Tribulus. 

'  lappaeque  tribulique'  (Ge.  i.  153,  iii.  385). 
It  is  clear  from  Pliny  that  '  lappa '  is  the  airapivq 
of  Theophrastus,  and  it  is  clear  that  Theophrastus' 
plant  is  goose-grass  or  cleavers  (Galium  Aparine), 
and  not  burdock,  as  it  figures  in  lexicons.  Virgil 
might  well  recommend  its  extirpation  where  sheep 
were  kept  for  wool.  Not  only  the  globular  seed- 
heads  but  even  the  stems  and  leaves  cling  to  a 
fleece.  It  was  to  protect  the  fine  fleeces  against 
cleavers  as  well  as  against  marruca  and  other  thorns 
that  the  Tarentine  farmers  clothed  their  sheep  with 
coats  of  hide.  Greek  irony  stamped  its  clinging  way 
with  the  name  of  the  philanthropic  plant.  With  us 
it  grows  mostly  in  hedges  and  waste  places,  but 
Pliny  notes  that  it  was  a  pest  in  cornland. 

In  both  our  passages  it  is  coupled  with  'tribulus,' 
which  is  the  star  thistle  (Centaurea  calcitrapa).  In 
this  plant  the  involucral  bracts  end  in  long  spines 
capable  of  doing  much  damage,  and  it  owes  its 
specific  name  to  its  likeness  to  a  caltrop.  The 
spines  remain  when  the  flower  has  faded,  and  made 
Pliny  say  that  the  plant  is  peculiar  in  that  the  fruit 
as  well  as  the  flower  is  spinous.  The  plant,  common 
in  Italy,  occurs  occasionally  in  southern  England, 
as  on  the  coast  round  Dover. 

Flower :  Lappa,  April  to  September. 
Tribulus,  July  and  August. 
Italian  names  :  Speronella,  Attacca-mani,  At- 

tacca-veste  (Galium). 
Calcatreppola,   Ippofesto, 
Ceceprete  (Centaurea). 
65  F 


Trees,  Shrubs,   and  Plants  of  Virgil 
Laurus. 

'  Parnasia  laurus '  (Ge.  ii.  18). 

'  virgulta  sonantia  lauro '  (Ae.  xii.  522). 

In  our  gardens  the  name  of  laurel  has  been 
usurped  by  an  evergreen  cherry,  which  came  from 
the  Levant  in  the  days  of  Charles  II.  The  true 
laurel  is  the  bay  (Laurus  nobilis),  from  which  we 
get  camphor  and  cinnamon.  Associated  with  the 
legend  of  Daphne,  its  name  in  Greek,  it  became 
sacred  to  Apollo  (Ae.  iii.  82,  360).  A  soldier  bore 
it  in  a  triumph  to  indicate  that  he  was  sanctified 
from  the  pollution  of  blood.  Sprays  of  it  were 
burnt  in  incantations  and  to  get  omens  from  the 
crackling  (Ec.  viii.  83).  It  was  also  valued  for  its 
aromatic  scent,  and  Corydon  joins  it  in  his  nosegay 
with  the  myrtle  (Ec.  ii.  54).  Virgil  tells  the  farmer 
to  gather  the  berries  in  the  winter  (Ge.  i.  306)  ; 
they  yield  a  scented  oil. 

The  bay  is  not  uncommon  in  southern  Italy,  but 
I  do  not  know  any  thickets  of  it  such  as  are  de- 
scribed in  our  second  passage  as  victims  of  a  forest 
fire.     It  is  propagated  by  suckers  (Ge.  ii.  18). 

Flower,  March. 
Italian  name,  Alloro. 

Lens. 

'  Pelusiacae  lentis '  (Ge.  i.  228). 

The  lentil  (Vicia  lens),  a  small  blue -flowered 
vetch,  was  one  of  the  first  leguminous  plants  to  be 
cultivated.      Its    native    country    is    uncertain,    but 

66 


Lens 

Italian  botanists  think  that  Virgil  may  be  right  in 
assigning  it  to  Egypt.  Others  hold  that  it  was 
developed  in  Italy  out  of  some  other  vetch  with 
smaller  and  less  valuable  seeds.  Ancient  authorities 
agree  with  Virgil  that  it  should  be  sown  in  Novem- 
ber, but  those  who  wish  to  grow  it  in  England 
would  do  well  to  wait  till  March  and  choose  a  warm 
spot.  In  our  climate  it  is  of  less  value  than  the 
Dutch  brown  bean  and  other  varieties  of  Phaselus 
which  we  owe  to  America.  The  seeds  are  imported 
in  considerable  quantities  for  use  as  a  vegetable  and 
in  soup. 

The  turn  of  Virgil's  phrase  must  imply  either  that 
lentils  are  of  less  value  than  corn  or  that  their  culti- 
vation is  so  easy  that  a  scientific  farmer  might  leave 
it  to  less  able  hands. 

Flower,  July  and  August. 

Italian  names,  Lente  and  Lenticchia. 

LlGUSTRUM. 

'  alba  ligustra  cadunt '  {Ec.  ii.  18). 

It  were  much  to  be  desired  that  our  English 
gardeners  shared  Corydon's  contempt  for  the  privet 
(Ligustrum  vulgare),  against  which  Mr.  William 
Robinson  has  waged  a  righteous  war  almost  in  vain. 
The  wretched  shrub  claims  the  power  of  resisting 
London  smoke,  and  one  is  minded  to  wish  that  it 
could  not.  However  much  it  is  planted,  perhaps  no 
one  chooses  to  gather  its  sickly  smelling  flowers. 
The  shrub  is  closely  akin  to  the  olive  and  the  ash, 

67 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 

who,  it  must  be  allowed,  do  their  best  to  hide  their 
relationship  to  their  ugly  cousin.  Regretfully  I  feel 
bound  to  quote  Tennyson  : 

' A  skin 
As  clean  and  white  as  privet  when  it  flowers.' 

Martyn  endeavoured  to  identify  our  plant  with  the 
great  bindweed  (Convolvulus  sepium),  whose  large 
white  and  bell-shaped  flowers  adorn  our  hedges,  and 
whose  throttling  stems  are  sometimes  a  pest  in 
gardens.  But  this  plant  appears  in  Pliny  under  the 
name  of  convolvulus  together  with  a  synonymous 
worm  or  caterpillar,  and  it  seems  clear  that  Ligus- 
trum  was  a  shrub.  It  is  a  pity,  for  the  flowers  of 
the  bindweed  are  much  of  a  size  with  those  of  the 
red  and  white  lilies,  and,  if  '  hyacinthus '  or  '  vac- 
cinium '  be  the  red  lily,  Virgil's  contrast  is  better 
than  one  between  privet  and  martagons  or  corn-flags 
or  aught  else. 

Flower  of  privet,  June. 
Italian  name,  Ligustro. 

Lilium. 

'  alba  lilia'  (Ge.  iv.  130;  Ae.  xii.  69). 

'  Candida  lilia  '  (Ae.  vi.  709). 

'  Ac-rentes  ferulas  et  grandia  lilia  '  (Ec.  x.  25). 

Lilium  candidum,  which  some  call  St.  Joseph's 
lily,  is  equally  conspicuous  in  Italian  paintings  and 
in  English  cottage  gardens,  though  of  late  a 
scoundrel  fungus  has  done  it  much  harm.  It  occurs 
sparingly  in   Italy,   but  may  well  have  been   more 

68 


Lilium 

common  in  ancient  days,  and  it  is  the  only  lily 
which  is  a  native  of  Sicily.  Virgil  names  it  as  a 
bee  plant  (Ae.  vi.  709). 

Flower,  May  to  July. 
Italian  name,  Giglio. 

Linum. 

'  urit  enim  campum  lini  seges '  (Ge.  i.  77). 
'  velati  lino  '  (Ae.  xii.  120). 

The  reading  in  the  latter  passage  is  doubtful,  and 
many  editors  accept  '  limo.' 

The  manufacture  of  linen  dates  back  to  prehis- 
toric times.  The  earliest  linen  seems  to  have  been 
made  of  flax  supplied  by  the  fibrous  bark  of  Linum 
angustifolium,  a  native  of  the  Mediterranean  region 
and  of  north-west  Europe.  This  plant  is  some- 
times annual,  sometimes  perennial,  but  is  inferior  to 
L.  usitatissimum,  an  annual,  which  was  perhaps  a 
native  of  Asia  Minor,  though  now  it  seems  to  occur 
only  in  cultivation  or  as  a  relic  of  it.  In  Italy  it 
seems  to  have  been  grown  to  no  great  extent  and 
only  for  the  oil  of  its  seeds,  linen  being  imported 
from  the  East.  Another  product  of  flax  is  cambric, 
and  both  this  and  linen  were  and  are  used  in  the 
vestments  of  priests.  Fishing  nets  were  made  of 
the  fibre  (Ge.  i.  142). 

Virgil's  observation  that  flax  '  runs '  the  soil  is 
confirmed  both  by  ancient  and  by  modern  observa- 
tion, and  some  of  the  Roman  authorities  would  on 
that   account    dissuade    farmers    from    growing   it. 

69 


Trees,   Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

Columella  in  particular  says  it  should  be  grown  only 
in  districts  where  it  commands  a  high  price. 

The  plant  is  sometimes  grown  in  our  gardens  for 
its  blue  flowers,  but  in  beauty  it  is  excelled  by 
L.  Narbonense,  a  perennial,  and  a  native  of  Liguria, 
Lombardy,  and  Corsica. 

Flower,  April  and  May. 
Italian  name,  Lino. 

Lolium. 

'infelix  lolium'  (Ec.  v.  37;  Ge.  i.  154). 

Great  poets  often  retain  a  sense  of  the  original 
meaning  of  words,  and  here  Virgil's  epithet,  which 
at  first  meant  '  unsuckling,'  evidently  means  '  un- 
feeding.'  Lolium  temulentum,  the  drunken  darnel, 
as  Linnaeus  called  it  from  its  supposed  effects,  is 
a  grass  near  akin  to  rye,  and  is  the  plant  which  the 
enemy  in  the  parable  sowed  in  the  corn.  It  was  an 
ancient  superstition  among  farmers  that  in  a  bad 
season  wheat  seeds  degenerated  into  darnel.  The 
qualities  of  the  plant  have  long  been  matter  of 
dispute.  Hooker  describes  it  as  very  poisonous,  but 
the  seeds  have  often  been  eaten  with  impunity.  It 
seems,  however,  to  be  liable  to  the  attacks  of  a 
minute  fungus,  which  either  is  poisonous  itself  or 
creates  a  toxic  power  in  the  host  plant.  In  either 
condition  it  so  affects  the  eyesight  as  to  create  one 
of  the  symptoms  of  intoxication.  Arcangeli  tells  us 
that  in  Italy  it  grows  everywhere  in  the  corn.  With 
us   it    is   only  a   colonist    and,    though    widely    dis- 

70 


Lolium 

tributed,  nowhere  a  common  plant.  It  may  be  well 
distinguished  from  rye-grass  by  its  annual  duration 
and  its  long  awns. 

Italian  name,  Loglio. 


Lotus. 


'  genus  haud  unum  .  .  .  loto  '  (Ge.  ii.  83). 
'lotos  '  (Ge.  iii.  394). 


It  was  recognized  by  Theophrastus  that  many 
plants  called  lotus  had  nothing  in  common  but  the 
name,  and  our  passages  refer  to  very  different 
species.  The  first  is  an  enumeration  of  trees  whose 
genera  have  more  than  one  species,  and  the  tree 
named  is  the  nettle-tree  (Celtis  Australis).  Though 
closely  akin  to  the  elm  and  the  nettle,  it  has  for  its 
fruit  a  blackish  drupe  the  size  of  a  pea.  Ovid  and 
Martial  call  it  aquatic,  but  according  to  Arcangeli 
its  usual  habitat  is  the  debris  of  rocks.  It  has 
somewhat  ovate  leaves  with  pubescent  under- 
surfaces.  The  wood  was  used  for  '  cardines  ' — that 
is,  the  uprights  to  which  the  planks  of  a  door  were 
fastened,  and  which  seem  to  survive  in  the  pin  of 
a  hinge.  What  tree  Virgil  classed  with  it  there  is 
nothing  to  show. 

The  '  lotus  '  of  our  second  passage  is  described  as 
good  food  for  milch  ewes.  It  probably  covers 
several  species  which  still  bear  its  name,  and,  if  it 
is  the  plant  of  Theophrastus,  especially  L.  tenuis 
and  L.  ubiginosus.  These  are  of  the  same  genus 
as  the  bird's-foot  trefoil  or  butter-and-eggs  of  our 

71 


Trees,   Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

fields.  This  is  commended  as  fodder  by  agricultural 
authorities,  and  some  think  that  it  is  Virgil's  plant. 
Martyn  took  it  for  the  white  water-lily,  but  it  seems 
unlikely  that  this  would  be  eaten  by  sheep,  and 
Martyn  was  misled  by  the  mention  in  Theophrastus 
of  another  '  lotus,'  which  has  been  identified  with  one 
of  the  Nile  water-lilies,  which  is  not  found  in  Italy. 

Flower  :  Celtis,  April  and  May. 
Lotus,  May  and  June. 
Italian  names :  Arcidiavolo,  Spaccasassi,  and 
Lotu  (Celtis). 
Mullaghera  (Lotus). 

LUPINUS,    OR    LUPINUM. 

'  tristis  .  .  .  lupini  .  .  .  f ragiles  calamos  silvamque  sonantem  ' 

(Ge.  i.  75). 

The  common  lupin  (Lupinus  albus)  is  of  uncertain 
origin,  but  is  possibly  wild  in  some  parts  of  the 
northern  Apennines,  and  has  long  been  cultivated 
in  the  Mediterranean  region. 

The  epithet  of  '  tristis  '  may  refer  to  the  slight 
bitterness  of  the  seeds,  but  possibly  implies  a  false 
etymology.  Virgil  may,  in  spite  of  the  quantity  of 
the  vowel,  have  derived  lupin  from  Xinrrj,  pain. 
There  can,  however,  be  little  doubt  that  the  word 
must  be  classed  with  foxglove  and  harebell  and  the 
many  plant  names  which  come  from  beasts.  It  is 
the  plant  of  '  lupus,'  the  wolf. 

The  lupin  is  grown  both  for  the  seeds  and  as 
fodder,  and  thus,  as  Pliny  says,   is  eaten  both  by 

72 


Lupus,  or  Lupinum 

man  and  by  beast.  Moreover,  like  other  leguminous 
plants,  it  was  grown  for  the  manurial  value  of  the 
nitrogen  which  it  secretes.  Palladius  recommends 
sowing  it  in  September  and  ploughing  the  crop  in. 
It  is  still  largely  grown  in  Campania. 

Virgil  had  observed  that,  when  the  crop  is  har- 
vested, the  seeds  rattle  in  the  large  pod. 

Our  garden  lupins  are  mostly  American,  and  have 
been  much  hybridized  and  improved  under  culti- 
vation. 

Flower,  April  and  May. 
Italian  name,  Lupino. 

Lutum. 

'  aries  .  .  .  mutabit  vellera  luto'  {Ec.  iv.  43). 

The  common  dyer's  weed  or  weld  (Reseda  luteola) 
is  to  be  found  in  many  parts  both  of  Italy  and  of 
England.  It  is  nearly  akin  to  mignonette  and  may 
be  recognized  by  the  likeness  in  flower  and  seed 
vessel.  ( It  yields  a  yellow  dye,  which  is  obtained  by 
boiling  the  whole  plant  when  in  flower,  though  the 
colouring  matter  is  strongest  in  the  seeds.  In  com- 
merce the  dye  is  known  as  Dutch  pink.  Blue  cloths 
dipped  in  it  turn  green.  / 

Flower,  May  and  June. 

Italian  names,  Biondella  and  Guaderella. 

Malus. 

The   general  word   for   fruit    was    '  poma.'     This 
included  'mala,'  the  larger  fleshy  fruits,  *  nuces,'  all 

73 


Trees,   Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

nuts,  and  also  what  we  call  bush  fruits  and  others, 
such  as  plums,  for  which  there  was  no  divisional 
name.  Virgil  uses  '  malus  '  of  three  trees,  two  of  them 
belonging  to  the  natural  order  of  Rosaceae  and  the 
third  to  Aurantiaceae,  and  possibly  of  a  fourth. 

A.  Apple:  Pyrus  malus. 

'  mutatam  .  .  .  insta  mala  |  ferre  pyrum  '  {Ge.  ii.  34). 
1  steriles  platani  malos  gessere  valentes  '  (ib.  70). 

These  passages  probably  refer  to  the  apple.  In 
Italy  it  seems  to  bewray  a  foreign  origin  by  its 
dislike  for  the  hot  summers.  It  could  be  grafted 
on  the  pear  but  not  on  the  plane,  to  which  it  is  not 
akin.  The  earliest  apple  was  musteum  or  melimelum, 
our  summering,  the  best  keeper  the  amerine. 

B.  Quince  :  Pyrus  cydonia. 

'malo  me  Galatea  petit'  (Ec.  iii.  64). 
1  aurea  mala  '  (ib.  71). 

The  former  of  these  passages  may  refer  to  the 
apple,  but,  as  the  quince  was  sacred  to  Venus  and 
the  thrown  apple  is  a  challenge  to  love,  it  may  well 
be  the  quince.  Virgil  took  his  phrase  here  from 
Theocritus.  At  Athens,  as  is  pretty  clear  from 
Aristophanes,  this  method  of  making  love  was  con- 
fined to  Doll  Tearsheet  and  her  kind.  A  modern 
quince  of  the  pear-shaped  type  would  be  a  clumsy 
pellet  in  a  girl's  hand,  but  the  fruit  may  well  have 
grown  larger  under  cultivation.  The  ancient  authori- 
ties mention  several  varieties,  and  with  us  one  is 
occasionally  found  which  has  an  apple-shaped  fruit. 

74 


Malus 

The  association  of  the  quince  with  love  was  not 
destroyed  by  Christianity.  It  may  be  that  the 
quinces,  for  which  the  Nurse  in  Romeo  and  Juliet 
said  they  were  calling  in  the  pantry,  were  appro- 
priate to  the  impending  marriage,  though  throwing 
them  was  out  of  fashion,  and  indeed  Romeo  had  no 
need  of  missile  hints. 

The  quince  came  westward  by  way  of  Crete,  and 
its  name  is  derived  from  kvScoviov,  the  apple  of 
Cydonis,  the  Cretan  city. 

There  are  other  passages  in  Virgil  of  which  we 
must  say  that  he  may  have  meant  either  apples  or 
quinces  or  both.  Such  are  the  jilted  lover's  wish  for 
an  inverted  world,  '  mala  ferant  quercus  '  (Ec.  viii.  54), 
and  the  reference  to  '  malifera  Abella '  (Ae.  vii.  740), 
The  town,  now  Avella  Vecchia,  is  in  Campania,  and 
had  a  renown  for  nuts  as  well  as  for  soft  fruit.  The 
fruit  of  the  Hesperides  (Ec.  vi.  61)  were  probably 
thought  of  as  quinces,  and  Ovid  calls  them  '  aurea 
poma.'  He  also  describes  the  leaves  as  '  fulva,'  a 
poetic  exaggeration,  which  shows  that  his  fruit  had 
in  it  a  touch  of  the  mythical. 

The  phrase  '  roscida  mala '  has  been  variously 
interpreted.  Conington  and  other  editors,  following 
Servius,  see  a  reference  to  the  morning  dew,  while 
others  take  the  epithet  to  be  specific  of  a  distinct 
fruit.  The  former  interpretation  is  supported  by 
the  phrase  of  Theocritus,  ra  p68a  ra  SpocroevTa,  and 
more  decisively  by  the  Roman  belief,  mentioned  by 
Pliny,  that  some  fruits  were  best  gathered  with  the 
morning  dew  on  them.     Moreover,  when  Propertius 

75 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 

speaks  of  '  roscida  poma  '  (I.  xx.  36)  he  seems  to  mean 
fruits  splashed  by  the  fountain  into  which  Hylas  was 
drawn  by  the  nymphs. 

Of  the  phrase  in  Ec.  ii.  51,  '  cana  legam  tenera 
lanugine  mala,'  it  is  difficult  to  make  anything.  The 
editors  say  quinces,  but  this  ignores  '  cana.'  There 
were,  however,  three  varieties  of  the  quince,  and  one 
of  these  may  have  had  a  more  hoary  skin  than  the 
chrysomela.  Our  own  pear-shaped  fruit  has  a  lighter 
skin  than  the  apple-shaped  and  the  Portuguese 
varieties,  both  cultivated  in  this  country.  The 
peach,  which  Virgil's  description  might  suit,  seems 
to  have  been  of  later  introduction. 

C.  Citron :  Citrus  medica  (Ge.  ii.  126-135). 

The  Latin  name  for  the  citron  was  usually  Malus 
medica  and  sometimes  Malus  Persica,  a  use  which 
has  caused  some  confusion  with  the  peach.  Virgil's 
account  of  it  is  his  one  attempt  to  describe  from 
literary  sources  a  tree  of  which  he  can  have  seen 
only  the  imported  fruit.  The  tree  is  of  Persian 
origin,  and  one  variety  of  it  is  well  known  as  the 
West  Indian  lime,  of  which  Mrs.  Soorocks  gave  one 
withered  specimen  to  Bailie  Waft.  Virgil  took  most 
of  his  description  from  Theophrastus,  but  adds  one 
or  two  touches  whose  origin  I  have  failed  to  trace. 
Moreover,  his  text  had  one  corrupt  word,  which  is 
correct  in  the  extant  manuscripts,  but  corrupted  in 
some  which  were  seen  by  Athenaeus,  who  mistook 
the  corrupt  for  the  correct. 

The  points  which  Virgil  takes  from  Theophrastus 

76 


Malus 

are  that  the  tree  is  fragrant,  that  it  is  a  remedy 
against  poison,  and  that  it  sweetens  the  breath. 
The  taste  of  the  fruit  probably  came  from  his  own 
observation,  though  it  was  not  regarded  as  esculent. 
The  points  which  he  adds  are  that  the  leaves  are  not 
shaken  off  by  the  wind  and  that  the  petals  are  slow 
to  drop.  The  point  in  which  he  followed  the  false 
reading  in  Theophrastus  is  the  comparison  of  the 
leaves  to  those  of  the  bay.  The  right  reading  is  not 
hdcfivris,  the  bay,  as  Virgil  and  Athenaeus  found  it 
in  their  copies,  but  avSpdxXrjs.  This  is  Arbutus 
Andrachne,  a  Greek  tree  with  oblong  and  blunted 
leaves  like  the  citron's,  whereas  the  leaves  of  the 
bay  are  acute.  Thus  Virgil's  mistake  enables  us  to 
restore  to  his  copy  of  Theophrastus  a  reading  not 
found  in  the  extant  manuscripts  and  not  correct. 

From  Theophrastus  and  Macrobius  we  may  add 
that  the  fruit  was  placed  among  clothes  to  protect 
them  from  moths,  and  Macrobius  ventures  to 
surmise  that  Homer's  OvcoBea  'Feifiara  owed  their 
scent  to  the  citron. 

In  Imperial  times  the  citron  was  grown  in  Italy, 
but  in  winter  it  was  necessary  to  protect  the  trees 
with  mats  stretched  over  pillars  as  lemon-trees  are 
now  protected  at  Said  on  the  Lake  of  Garda. 

Flower  of  Apple  and  Quince,  May. 
Italian      names :      Melo     (apple)  ;      Cotogno 
(Quince)  ;  Cedro  (Citron). 


77 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 
Malva. 

'  Malvaeque  inulaeque  virebant '  (Mor.  73). 

Of  the  eight  species  of  mallow  native  to  Italy 
more  than  one  may  be  included  under  this  name, 
but  it  is  chiefly  applied  to  our  common  roadside 
plant,  Malva  silvestris.  The  leaves  of  it  were  used 
as  a  salad  and  a  pot-herb,  and  were  accounted 
among  the  most  digestible  of  foods.  The  Greeks 
did  not  eat  it  uncooked.  English  children  are  fond 
of  the  nutty  unripe  seeds,  which  from  their  shape 
are  called  cheeses,  but  I  know  no  evidence  of  a  like 
fondness  in  Italy.  Horace,  if  the  stanza  be  not 
spurious,  couples  mallow  with  chicory  as  the  food 
of  a  man  of  simple  tastes. 

Flower,  March  to  October. 
Italian  name,  Malva. 

Medica  {Ge.  i.  215). 

Lucern  (Medicago  sativa)  appears  to  be  native  on 
dry  banks  in  the  Apennines,  though  according  to 
Hooker  it  is  known  only  in  cultivation.  He  suggests 
that  it  may  be  a  cultivated  form  of  M.  falcata,  a 
yellow-flowered  medick  which  has  established  itself 
in  East  Anglia.  The  flower  of  lucern  is  blue  or 
purple.  Its  name  of  MtjSlkt]  refers  to  a  supposed 
Persian  origin  of  the  plant,  but  I  do  not  find  that 
it  occurs  in  Asia  either  wild  or  cultivated.  It  is  still 
the  chief  fodder  crop  in  some  parts  of  Italy.  The 
plant  is  perennial  and  was  sometimes  allowed  to 
stand  for  ten  years.     It  had  the  further  value  that  it 

78 


Medica 

could  be  mown  six  times  or  in  favourable  seasons 
even  ten  times  a  year. 

Flower,  May  to  September. 
Italian  name,  Erba  Medica. 

Melisphyllum. 

'  adsperge  .  .  .  trita  melisphylla '  (Ge.  iv.  63). 

Balm  (Melissa  officinalis)  is  a  labiate  plant,  native 
in  Italy  and  long  in  cultivation.  It  has  a  scent  like 
that  of  the  citron.  Virgil  enjoins  the  mixing  of  its 
pounded  leaves  with  honeywort  to  induce  bees  to 
swarm,  and  it  is  still  sometimes  used  in  the  South 
of  England  to  smear  on  a  skep.  The  plant  sup- 
plies a  tonic  oil  which  at  one  time  was  much  used 
in  drink  for  a  sick  person.  Largely  grown  for  this 
purpose  it  has  naturalized  itself  here  and  there  in 
southern  England.  Its  scent  is  like  that  of  the 
sweet  verbena  (Aloysia  citriodora).  Anne  Page  bids 
her  elves  scour  the  chairs  of  Windsor  Castle  with 
juice  of  balm,  and  the  plant  was  common  in  the 
monastic  gardens  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Flower,  July  to  September. 
Italian    names,    Appiastro,    Cedronella,    and 
Citraggine. 

Milium. 

'milio  venit  annua  cura'  {Ge.  i.  216). 

Millet  (Panicum  miliaceum)  came  from  the  East, 
but  probably,  unlike  wheat,  not  from  the  great 
plains,  for  it  does  better  on  hilly  ground,  and  can 

79 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

withstand  much  drought.  It  is  still  cultivated  in 
Italy  in  dry  and  hilly  fields.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  it  is  one  of  the  six  components  of  the  bread 
of  which,  according  to  Ezekiel  (iv.  9),  the  Israelites 
were  to  eat  for  three  hundred  and  ninety  days. 

Italian  name,  Miglio. 

Morus. 

'  sanguineis  frontem  mods  et  tempora  pingit '  (Ec.  vi.  22). 

The  black  mulberry  (Morus  nigra)  is  an  Asiatic 
tree,  which  was  early  in  cultivation,  and  may  well  be 
the  tree  in  whose  tops  King  David  was  to  hear  the 
sound  of  marching.  It  came  into  England  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  VI.  The  colour  of  the  berries  is 
near  enough  to  that  of  blood  to  justify  Virgil's  epithet, 
and  indeed  is  ascribed  by  Ovid  to  the  blood  of 
Pyramus,  who  killed  himself  under  a  mulberry,  as 
he  does  in  A  Midsummer-Night's  Dream. 

The  word  '  morum  '  is  applied  to  other  like  berries, 
such  as  the  blackberry.  In  modern  Italy  the  name 
of  '  moro '  has  been  transferred  to  the  white  mul- 
berry, whose  fruit  is  a  very  pale  red.  This  was  a 
tree  of  later  introduction,  but  is  now  much  the  more 
common  in  Italy.  It  is  planted  as  food  for  silk- 
worms, and  in  some  parts  of  Emilia,  perhaps  also 
elsewhere,  it  supports  the  vine. 

Flower,  April  and  May. 
Italian  name,  Moro. 


80 


M  uscus 
Muscus. 

'stagna  virentia  musco '  (Ge.  iv.  18). 

'  muscosi  fontes  '  (Ec.  vii.  45). 

'  flumina,  muscus  ubi  et  viridissima  gramine  ripa ' 

(Ge.  iii.  144). 

The  name  seems  to  be  applied  especially  to  the 
larger  mosses  and  their  kindred,  sphagnum  and 
others,  which  grow  in  damp  ground. 

Myrica. 

'  ilium  .  .  .  etiam  flevere  myricae  '  (Ec.  x.  13). 

1  te  nostrae,  Vare,  m)rricae,  |  te  nemus  omne  canet ' 

(Ec.  vi.  10). 
'  humiles  .  .  .  myricae '  (Ec.  iv.  2). 

The  tamarisk  (Tamarix  Gallica)  is  a  familiar 
object  on  the  Sicilian  coasts,  and  figures  as  such  in 
Theocritus.  From  him  Virgil  must  have  taken  it, 
for  he  is  not  likely  to  have  seen  the  shrub  in  his 
youth,  though  it  is  occasionally  found  by  inland 
marshes.  Another  species  of  the  genus  was  sacred 
to  Apollo,  and  doubtless  Virgil  alludes  to  this.  Thus 
he  takes  it  as  the  emblem  of  the  pastoral  poet,  coup- 
ling it  with  the  vineyards  whereof  he  sings.  In 
Ec.  viii.  54  the  shepherd  refers  to  tamarisks  pro- 
ducing amber  as  a  thing  that  could  not  be. 

In  Cornwall  the  shrub  is  used  for  hedges,  its 
slender  leaves  enabling  it  to  defy  the  Atlantic  gales. 

Flower,  April  and  May. 

Italian  names,  Tamarice  and  Brula. 


81 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 
Myrtus. 

'  Paphiae  .  .  .  myrtus  '  (Ge.  ii.  64). 

'  amantes  litora  myrtus  '  (Ge.  iv.  124). 

The  graceful  habit  and  pleasing  scent  of  the 
myrtle  (Myrtus  communis)  brought  it  early  into 
cultivation,  and  the  Hebrew  poets  made  it  supplant 
the  thorn  and  the  brier  in  the  new  earth.  Indeed, 
though  now  well  established  in  Italy,  it  is  possibly 
of  Oriental  origin.  In  Theophrastus'  time  there 
were  already  several  varieties,  and  he  notes  that  the 
one  which  grew  on  the  Tyrrhene  coast  was  of  dwarf 
habit.  This  is  possibly  the  Tarentine  or  small-leaved 
variety,  which  is  still  in  cultivation.  The  tree  seldom 
exceeds  twelve  feet  in  height,  and  Sir  Arthur  Hort 
does  Theophrastus  an  injustice  in  making  him  say 
that  some  myrtles  are  large  trees. 

The  myrtie  is  common  on  south  Italian  coasts, 
and  between  Taranto  and  Reggio  often  makes  a  con- 
siderable scrub,  though  it  is  sometimes  swept  away 
by  the  spring  floods  of  the  fiumicini.  Its  liking 
for  the  shore  perhaps  accounts  for  its  dedication  to 
Venus,  to  whose  temple  at  Paphos  Virgil's  epithet 
alludes.  To  compliment  Octavian  on  his  supposed 
descent  from  Aeneas  Virgil  makes  the  world  crown  his 
temples  '  materna  myrto  '  (Ge.  i.  28),  with  the  favourite 
sprays  of  his  divine  ancestress.  Even  in  Hades 
luckless  lovers  live  in  a  grove  of  myrtle  (Ae.  vi.  443). 

In  early  days  the  myrtle,  like  the  cornel,  supplied 
shafts  for  spears,  '  validis  hastilibus  '  (Ge.  ii.  447), 
but  for  this  purpose  it  was  supplanted  by  the  ash. 
When  Virgil  makes  Camilla  carry  '  pastoralem  prae- 

82 


Myrtus 

fixa  cuspide  myrtum  '  (Ac  vii.  817)  he  perhaps  implies 
that  as  a  warrior  the  Volscian  damsel,  for  all  her 
gallantry,  was  something  of  an  amateur. 

Virgil  in  his  boyhood  can  have  known  the  myrtle 
only  as  a  cultivated  plant,  for  the  winters  of  Mantova 
are  too  severe  for  it  to  grow  without  protection,  and 
Menalcas  has  to  defend  it  against  the  frosts  with 
mats  (Ec.  vii.  6).  Even  at  Rome  the  two  trees  in 
the  sanctuary  of  Quirinus,  known  as  the  patrician 
and  the  plebeian  myrtle,  may  sometimes  have  called 
for  like  protection.  The  Sicilian  Corydon,  who  joins 
it  in  his  nosegay  with  the  bay  (Ec.  ii.  55),  could  leave 
it  undefended. 

The  skin  of  the  berry  is  blackish,  but  the  vinous 
juice  is  near  enough  in  colour  to  blood  for  an  ancient 
to  call  the  berries  '  cruenta '  (Gc  i.  306).  They  were 
gathered  in  winter  and  mixed  with  wine  as  a  remedy 
for  the  colic  and  for  toothaches. 

Flower,  July. 
Italian  name,  Mirto. 

Narcissus. 

'  sera  comantem  |  narcissum '  (Ge.  iv.  122). 
'  purpurea  narcisso  '  (Ec.  v.  38). 
'narcissi  lacrimam'  (Ge.  iv.  160). 

This  name  covers  several  species,  and  it  is  prob- 
able that  the  '  purple  '  narcissus  is  the  pheasant's 
eye,  N.  poeticus,  or  poet's  narciss,  the  epithet  having 
the  same  sense  us  in  Shelley's  '  purple  swans.'  The 
tear  is  that  of  the  youth  who  was  changed  into  the 

83 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 

flower,  though  in  fact  the  plant  has  nothing  that 
can  be  called  lacrima.  Evidently  the  word  is  taken 
from  Bd/cpvov,  which  means  a  bulblet  formed  in  the 
axles  of  the  leaves  as  in  the  tiger-lily.  Virgil  says 
that  the  bees  use  this  tear  for  the  foundation  of  the 
combs  or,  as  Mr.  Royds  interprets  it,  the  propolis 
by  which  the  comb  is  glued  to  the  hive.  Here  the 
poet  cannot  have  been  writing  from  his  own  observa- 
tion, but  he  returns  to  it  when  he  adds  that  the  bees 
also  use  glue  gathered  from  trees. 

The  flower  of  our  first  passage  can  be  certainly 
identified  through  two  statements  of  Theophrastus. 
He  says  that  the  plant  blossoms  in  autumn  and  that 
the  scape  appears  before  the  leaves.  The  only  species 
which  answers  to  this  statement  is  N.  serotinus.  It 
agrees  also  with  the  rest  of  Theophrastus'  descrip- 
tion. It  has  a  white  perianth  with  a  yellowish  cup, 
and  it  blossoms  in  September.  Virgil's  phrase  im- 
plies that  there  are  vernal  species  as  well. 

The  plant  is  not  common  in  Italy,  but  it  is  found 
near  Otranto,  and  the  old  Corycian  may  well  have 
got  it  thence.  Virgil  does  not  actually  state  that 
his  acquaintance  grew  it,  but  he  seems  to  imply  as 
much. 

Flower,  April  and  May  (N.  poeticus) ;  Sep- 
tember (N.  serotinus). 

Italian  names,  Fior-magga,  Narciso,  Giracapo, 
(N.  poeticus). 

(The  autumn  narcissus  is  nowhere  common  enough 
to  have  received  a  popular  name.) 

8+ 


Nasturtium 

Nasturtium. 

'  trahunt  acri  voltus  nasturtia  morsu  '  (Mor.  84). 

Cress  (Lepidium  sativum)  is  an  Egyptian  plant 
which  came  early  into  cultivation  for  use  in  salads. 
Its  name  it  got  from  the  pungency  which  twists  the 
nostril.  We  avoid  an  excess  of  pungency  by  eating 
the  plant  in  a  young  state. 

Flower,  spring  and  summer. 
Italian  name,  Crescione. 

Nux. 

'  contemplator  item  cum  nux  se  plurima  silvis 
induet  in  florem  et  ramos  curvabit  olentes '  (Ge.  i.  187). 
'  sparge,  marite,  nuces'  (Ec.  viii.  31). 

It  is  evident  from  many  passages,  and  Macrobius 
expressly  tells  us  that  '  nux '  as  the  name  of  a  fruit 
applied  to  any  that  had  hard  shells.  As  the  name 
of  a  tree  it  stands  with  a  qualifying  adjective  for 
several  species,  but  used  without  an  epithet  it  means 
the  walnut  (Juglans  regia),  still  in  Italy  called  noce. 
The  Greeks  recognized  that  the  tree  was  of  Persian 
origin,  but  it  must  have  been  early  in  cultivation, 
and  the  Roman  name  of  ' iuglans,'  which  is  '  Iovis 
glans,'  Jove's  acorn,  like  '  Iuniperus,'  which  is  Juno's 
pear,  must  have  been  an  early  formation. 

The  flowers  of  the  walnut  are  unisexual,  the  male 
in  catkins  and  the  female  in  clusters.  Virgil's 
'  ramos  curvabit '  picturesquely  describes  the  droop- 
ing catkins.  The  strong  scent  which  he  mentions 
is  said  by  Pliny  to  strike  into  the  very  brain  of  who- 

85 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 

soever  encounters  it,  and  other  authorities  describe 
it  as  poisonous  to  neighbouring  trees.  This  seems 
to  be  a  mistake,  but  of  course  its  thick  shade  would 
be  bad  for  an  apple  or  pear  growing  to  the  north  of  it. 
Those  who  think  that  Virgil's  tree  is  the  almond 
have  to  face  insuperable  difficulties.  No  passage  is 
quoted  in  which  the  name  without  an  epithet  ex- 
pressed or  implied  means  anything  but  the  walnut. 
The  almond  is  '  Nux  Graeca '  or  '  Nux  Amygdalina.' 
Tibullus,  speaking  of  the  dyeing  of  grey  hair  with 
walnut  juice,  says,  '  viridi  cortice  tincta  nucis,'  and 
Pliny  expressly  states  that  the  '  nuces '  which  the 
bridegroom  threw  to  the  boys  for  a  scramble  were 
walnuts,  while  the  '  nuces '  used  as  children's  play- 
things were  admittedly  walnut  shells.  It  has  been 
objected  that  Virgil  would  not  describe  the  walnut 
as  bending  its  scented  boughs,  but  he  does  not,  for 
'  ramos  '  clearly  refers  to  the  catkins.  In  no  case 
would  his  words  suit  the  almond,  for  the  almond 
blossom  does  not  curve  the  boughs.  It  is  true  that 
the  flowers  of  the  walnut  are  not  conspicuous,  but 
they  are  numerous,  and  Virgil  tells  his  farmer  to 
examine  them  for  a  special  purpose. 

Flower,  April. 
Italian  name,  Noce. 

Oleaster,  or  Olea  Silvestris. 

'  foliis  oleaster  amaris  '  (Ge.  ii.  314  ;  Ae.  xii.  766). 

The  wild  olive  (Olea  Europaea)  is  either  a  native 
or  at  least  a  well-established    denizen  in    southern 

86 


Oleaster,  or   Olea  Silvestris 

Italy.  It  has  shorter  and  stiffer  leaves  than  the 
cultivated  variety,  and  their  under-surfaces  soon 
lose  the  heaviness  which  in  the  other  is  permanent. 
The  berry  is  small  and  worthless. 

Virgil  finds  a  use  for  the  tree  as  a  shade  for  a 
beehive,  and  as  a  tree  of  grazing  ground  it  was 
sometimes,  as  in  our  second  passage,  consecrated 
to  Faunus,  whom  the  Roman  poets  identified  with 
Pan.  Mr.  Fowler,  however,  views  Faunus  as  essen- 
tially a  god  of  the  wild. 

The  oleaster  was  used  as  a  stock  on  which  to 
graft  the  olive.  To  this  practice  Virgil  objects 
(Ge.  ii.  302-314)  on  the  ground  that,  if  there  be  a 
fire  in  the  oliveyard,  the  trees  will  be  burnt  below 
the  grafting  point,  and  as  the  olives  are  not  on  their 
own  roots,  '  non  a  stirpe  valent,'  only  the  oleaster 
will  remain.  Palladius  meets  this  objection  by 
saying  that  the  graft  must  be  made  below  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground,  in  which  case  the  olive  will 
survive  the  fire.  Our  gardeners  practise  this  sub- 
terranean grafting  with  the  clematis,  the  Moutan 
peony,  and  other  plants. 

Unfortunately,  in  this  passage  either  Virgil  was 
careless  in  his  arrangement  or,  more  probably,  there 
has  been  some  dislocation  in  his  text.  The  lines, 
as  they  stand  in  the  manuscripts,  come  in  the  middle 
of  his  account  of  the  vine.  Hence  some  editors 
have  supposed  him  to  mean  that  oleasters  should 
not  be  planted  in  a  vineyard.  This  interpretation 
agrees  neither  with  the  Latin,  for  'insere'  must 
mean  graft,  nor  with  reason,  for  the  fire  would  be 

87 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

equally  fatal  to  the  olives  whether  they  were  planted 
among  vines  or  not.  It  is  clear  that  Palladius 
understood  the  passage  in  the  only  possible  sense. 

The  crook  on  which  the  shepherd  leans  (Ec.  viii.  16) 
is  of  the  wild  olive,  for  the  word  in  Theocritus,  whom 
Virgil  followed,  is  aypieXaiw.  It  may  well  be  doubted 
whether,  when  the  poem  was  written,  Virgil  had  yet 
seen  an  olive.  There  cannot  have  been  any  near 
Mantova. 

Flower,  July  and  August. 
Italian  name,  Oleastro. 

Oliva,  or  Olea. 

'  pingues  .  .  .  olivae  '  (Ge.  ii.  85). 
'  pallenti  .  .  .  olivae '  (Ec.  v.  16). 

Of  all  Italian  trees  the  olive  (Olea  sativa)  was 
naturally  held  of  most  account,  and  could  be  called 
'the  tree'  without  qualification,  as  in  Horace's 
'  arbore  nunc  aquas  culpante.'  It  is  a  cultivated 
variety  of  O.  Europaea,  which  perhaps  has  no 
native  claim  to  its  specific  designation.  Its  Latin 
names  probably  came  from  the  Greek  iXala,  the 
form  '  oliva '  from  a  dialect  in  which  the  digamma 
was  still  spoken,  and  '  olea '  from  one  from  which 
the  digamma  had  disappeared.  This  seems  to 
point  to  a  somewhat  late  introduction  into  Italy, 
and  it  may  have  been  brought  by  the  earliest  Greek 
colonists.  The  tree  is  too  tender  to  grow  at  high 
altitudes  or,  except  on  warm  coastlands,  in  the  north 
of  Italy,  and  the  parts  in  which  it  flourishes  are 
known  as  the  region  of  the  olive. 

88 


Oliva,   or  Olea 

The  lanceolate  and  pointed  leaves  at  once  dis- 
tinguish our  tree  from  the  oleaster,  and  the  heaviness 
of  the  under-surface  does  not  disappear  with  age  as 
it  does  in  the  wild  form.  The  panicles  of  small 
white  blossoms  appear  in  August.  The  green  fruit 
ripens  into  black,  and  the  first  gathering  is  late  in 
November.  There  was,  however,  one  variety  which 
was  gathered  unripe  to  provide  green  oil  for  salads. 
It  was  harvested  in  September. 

In   Italy  the  tree  broke  into  varieties,  of  which 
Virgil  selects  three  for  his  verse  {Ge.  ii.  86).     Cato 
names  ten  and   Columella   ten    or   possibly  eleven, 
each  list  including  Virgil's  three.     The  kind  called 
1  orchites,'  which  Virgil  for  the  convenience  of  his 
verse  calls  'orchades,'  bears  a  title  like  that  which 
Queen  Gertrude's  liberal  shepherds  gave  to  the  long 
purples,  and  in  shape  it  must  have  resembled  the 
tuber    of   an    orchid.       On    its   qualities    Pliny    and 
Columella  are  at  issue,  the  one  holding  that  it  gave 
abundant  oil  and  the  other  that  it  was  fit  only  for 
eating.     Martyn  seems  to  err  in  identifying  it  with 
the    modern    '  olivola/   which    is   small    and   round. 
The   kind    called  '  radius,'  from  its  resemblance  to 
a  weaver's  shuttle,  is  still  known  as  'raggaria,'  an 
oblong  olive,  producing  a  very  sweet  oil,  but  in  small 
quantities.     The  third  kind  was  called  '  pausia,'  or 
in  the  popular  speech  '  posea,'  a  name  of  which  the 
derivation  does  not  appear.     This  was  the  kind  that 
gave  the  green  oil.    Virgil  does  not  mention  the  kind 
called  '  Sergia,'  which  produced  the  largest  amount 
of  oil.     It  was  named  after  a  member  of  the  house 

89 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

of  Sergius,  and  is  one  of  the  sixteen  varieties  named 
by  Macrobius. 

Two  methods  of  propagation  mentioned  by  Virgil 
are  still  in  vogue.  One  (Ge.  ii.  63)  is  much  like  what 
Shirley  Hibberd  calls  the  currant-tree  method  of 
propagating  roses.  A  small  branch,  not  more  than 
two  inches  in  diameter  at  its  thickest  point,  is  sawn 
off  the  tree,  care  being  taken  not  to  jag  the  bark. 
The  lower  part  of  this  branch  is  cut  into  lengths 
of  a  foot  or  a  foot  and  a  half.  These  cuttings  or 
truncheons,  '  trunci '  or  '  taleae,'  are  then  pointed  at 
both  ends  and  buried  nearly  their  whole  length  in 
the  nursery.  It  takes  five  years  before  they  can  be 
transplanted  to  their  places  in  the  oliveyard.  Some- 
times they  are  not  set  in  the  nursery  for  transplanta- 
tion, but  set  in  the  yard  at  once.  In  this  case  they 
were  cut  to  the  length  of  three  feet. 

The  second  method  (ib.  30)  has  the  advantage 
that  the  transplanting  can  be  done  after  three  years, 
but  the  trees  were  thought  to  be  not  so  good.  The 
trunk  of  an  old  tree  is  cut  into  small  pieces  with 
a  strip  of  bark  at  one  side.  These  are  planted  like 
the  truncheons  and  soon  produce  roots.  The  mul- 
berry shares  with  the  olive  this  power  of  producing 
roots  from  old  wood.  Pliny  tells  stories,  not,  as 
some  of  his  stories  are,  impossible,  of  olive  wood 
sprouting  even  after  it  had  passed  through  the 
carpenter's  hands. 

With  grafting  I  have  dealt  in  the  previous  article. 

Virgil  tells  us  that  when  olive-trees  are  once  estab- 
lished they  need  no  more  cultivation  (ib.  420),  but 

90 


Oliva,  or  Olea 

this  must  not  be  taken  quite  literally.  In  his  day, 
as  now,  the  ground  under  the  branches  was  dug 
every  year,  every  few  years  manure  was  applied,  and 
every  eighth  year  some  pruning  was  done.  Virgil 
means  that  all  this  was  nothing  to  the  many  labours 
of  the  vineyard. 

Concerning  the  use  of  olives  and  oil  for  food,  for 
cookery,  for  an  unguent,  and  for  artificial  light,  there 
are  a  few  touches  in  the  poems.  There  is  the  oil 
lamp  that  sputters  as  a  sign  of  coming  rain 
(Ge.  i.  393)  ;  there  is  the  slippery  oil  with  which 
above  the  cliffs  of  Actium  the  Trojan  athletes 
anointed  themselves  to  celebrate  their  escape  from 
their  Greek  foes  (Ae.  iii.  281) ;  and  there  is  the  fling 
at  the  town  exquisite  who  spoils  his  unguent  with 
perfumes  (Ge.  ii.  466).  The  victors  in  the  games 
are  crowned  with  olive  blossoms,  which  drop  upon 
their  yellow  pollen  (Ae.  v.  309).  The  victim  on  the 
altar  burns  the  quicker  for  the  oil  that  is  poured 
over  it  (Ae.  vi.  254).  Nor  does  the  use  of  oil  cease 
with  a  man's  life.  Together  with  frankincense  and 
food  it  has  its  place  on  the  funeral  pyre  (ib.  225). 

Just  as  in  Bentley's  phrase  the  very  dust  of 
Pearson's  writings  is  gold,  so  the  watery  part  of 
the  olive  (amurca)  was  valuable  for  steeping  seeds 
(Ge.  i.  194),  for  use  in  a  sheep  dip  (Ge.  iii.  448),  and 
for  other  purposes. 

In  face  of  all  these  uses  it  seems  strange  that  for 
a  farm  of  sixty  acres  Cato  gives  the  olive  only  the 
fourth  place.  First  comes  the  vineyard  and  then 
the  irrigated  garden  and  the  willow  bed. 

91 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

It  might  be  thought  that  the  trees  were  too 
precious  to  be  cut  as  timber,  but  Theophrastus 
mentions  some  uses  of  it,  one  of  them  the  fuel  for 
a  furnace.  Possibly,  like  the  shepherd's  staff,  this 
was  the  wood  of  the  oleaster.  It  may  be  surmised 
that  the  same  explanation  will  hold  of  '  viridi '  as 
applied  to  the  wreath  given  to  Mnestheus,  as  it 
seems,  for  being  second  in  the  boat  race  (Ae.  v.  493), 
the  winner's  wreath  being  of  bay.  Virgil  would 
hardly  apply  the  epithet  to  a  wreath  of  the  grey 
olive,  unless  indeed  he  means  that  the  spray  had 
a  few  green  berries  on  it.  Horace's  allusion  in 
'  viridi  Venafro  '  is  to  the  berry,  not,  as  some  editors 
suppose,  to  the  leaves. 

There  was  yet  another  part  played  by  the  olive  in 
a  world  too  well  acquainted  with  war.  The  Romans 
adopted  the  legend  that  Athena  was  the  inventor  of 
the  olive  (Ge.  i.  18),  but  it  hardly  needed  this  associa- 
tion with  the  queen  of  arts  and  crafts  to  make  the 
rich  olive  the  emblem  of  peace.  It  is  the  envoy's 
white  flag  (Ae.  vii.  154,  751,  viii.  116),  and  Aeneas 
in  the  vain  hope  of  a  peaceful  reception  in  Italy 
crowns  himself  with  olive  leaves  when  on  leaving 
Sicily  for  the  second  time  he  makes  his  offering 
of  wine  and  entrails  to  the  powers  of  the  sea 
{Ae.  v.  774). 

Flower,  July  and  August. 
Italian  names,  Olivo  and  Ulivo. 


92 


Ornus 
Ornus. 

'nascuntur  steriles  saxosis  montibus  orni '  (Ge.  ii.  in). 

Columella  says  that  this  tree  is  a  wild  ash  with 
broader  leaves.  It  is  the  manna  ash  (Fraxinus  ornus), 
which  is  with  some  reason  regarded  by  the  Latin 
poets  as  the  typical  hillside  tree  of  central  and 
southern  Italy.  Handsome  and  free  flowering,  it  is 
of  much  less  stature  than  its  cousin  tree.  Virgil 
makes  Linus  say  that  Hesiod's  pipe  would  draw  the 
manna  ashes  down  from  the  mountains  {Ec.  vi.  71). 

The  wood  is  said  to  be  pliant,  and  Theophrastus 
says  it  was  employed  for  elastic  bedsteads,  for 
some  carpenter's  tools,  and,  it  would  seem,  for  the 
curved  parts  of  merchant  ships.  Virgil  happens  to 
mention  it  several  times  together  with  other  timbers 
in  connection  with  funeral  pyres,  but  it  may  be  sup- 
posed that  for  this  purpose  men  took  what  they 
could  get. 

The  tree  is  not  much  planted  in  England,  but 
grafted  on  the  common  ash  it  will  flourish  even  in 
large  towns. 

The  supposition  that  Ornus  was  the  rowan  is 
quite  groundless. 

Flower,  May. 

Italian  name,  Orniello. 

Paliurus. 

'  spinis  surgit  paliurus  acutis '  (Ec.  v.  39). 

The  death  of  Daphnis,  which  apart  from  allegory 
is  the  murder  of  Caesar,   is  supposed  by  Virgil  to 

93 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 

give  to  the  noxious  wildings  a  mastery  over  the 
flowers  worthy  of  a  garden.  Few  plants  are  more 
masterful  in  occupying  land  than  what  is  known  as 
Christ's  thorn  (Paliurus  aculeatus  .  The  plant  is 
common  in  Palestine,  and  disputes  with  Zizyphus 
Spina  Christi  the  claim  to  have  supplied  the  crown 
of  thorns  at  the  Crucifixion.  Its  so-called  thorns 
are  in  fact  stipular  prickles.  In  the  decay  of  Etruria 
the  plant  went  ahead  to  such  an  extent  that  in  war- 
fare it  could  play  the  part  now  assigned  to  barbed 
wire,  for  it  is  probably  the  shrub  through  whose 
thickets  Polybius  tells  us  the  Gauls  could  not  pass 
to  attack  the  Romans  until  they  had  stripped  off 
their  clothes  ::.  28).  Dennis,  who  refers  to  this 
passag.  himspJf  kept  away  by  the  shrub  from 

the  walls  of  Rusellae.  but  had  not  the  curiosity  to 
learn  its  botanical  name.  '  The  area  of  the  city  and 
the  slopes  around  it  are  densely  covered  with  a 
thorny  shrub  called  "  marruca."  which  I  had  often 
admired  elsewhere  for  its  bright  yellow  blossoms  and 
delicate  foliage ;  but  as  an  antagonist  it  is  most  for- 
midable, particularly  in  winter,  when  its  fierceness  is 
unmitigated  by  a  leafy  covering.  Even  could  one 
disregard  the  thorns,  the  difficulty  of  forcing  one's 
way  through  the  thickets  is  so  great  that  some  of  the 
finest  portions  of  the  walls  are  unapproachable  from 
below/  It  will  be  seen  that  Columella  had  reason 
in  recommending  the  shrub  for  hedges. 

The  natural  order  to  which  '  marruca  '  belongs 
is  represented  in  England  by  the  two  buckthorns,  one 
of  which  has  formidable  spines,  and  in  America  is 

- 


Paliurus 

planted  for  hedges.  The  vine  also  is  a  kindred 
plant,  but  has  always  preferred  vengeance  to  self- 
defence. 

Flower,  May  and  June. 
Italian  name,  Marruca. 

Palma. 

1  mittit  .  .  .  Eliadum  palmas  Epiros  equantm*  (Ge.  i.  59). 

'  ardua  palma  '  (Ge.  ii.  67). 

'  primus  Idumaeas  referam  tibi  Mantua  palmas  '  (Ge.  iii.  12). 

Although  there  are  many  genera  and  species  of 
palms,  one  of  which,  Chamaerops  humilis,  is  a 
native  of  Sicily,  Virgil  refers  only  to  the  date  palm, 
Phoenix  dactylifera.  The  epithet  of  '  ardua,'  which 
Virgil  applies  to  it,  must  refer  to  the  great  length  of 
the  stem,  at  the  top  of  which  is  the  foliage  and  the 
fruit.  It  must  have  been  imported  at  an  early  date 
into  Sicily  and  southern  Italy.  In  Virgil's  days, 
although  Selinunte,  '  palmosa  Selinus '  (Ae.  iii.  705), 
was  already  a  ruined  city,  there  must  have  been 
palms  planted  along  its  sea  front,  as  there  still  are 
some  thirty  miles  off  at  Trapani.  At  both  places 
you  may  find  Chamaerops,  on  the  sides  of  the  Eryx 
in  great  abundance,  but  only  as  a  stunted  shrub. 

In  Arabia  and  parts  of  Africa  the  date  was  much 
used  for  food,  while  in  Palestine,  Greece,  and  Italy 
the  leaves  were  early  regarded  as  a  symbol  of  peace 
and  victory.  Virgil's  reference  to  the  palms  of 
Edom  is  allegorical  and  difficult.  His  probable 
meaning  is  that  he  hopes  some  day  to  celebrate 
the  victories  of  Octavian  and  the  pacification  of  the 

95 


Trees,   Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

world.  When  the  time  came  for  him  to  do  this  he 
shrank  from  the  task,  and,  although  he  accomplished 
it  in  the  Aeneid,  he  avowed  that  he  must  have  been 
mad  to  undertake  it. 

Flower,  summer. 

Italian  name,  Palma  da  datteri. 

Panacea. 

'odoriferam  panaceam  '  (Ae.  xii.  419). 

The  plant  here  is  clearly  mythical,  though  there 
is  a  Greek  plant  of  the  name  which  has  been  identi- 
fied with  a  near  relative  of  the  parsnip.  These 
plants  are  of  a  sugary  and  scented  tribe,  and  panacea 
cannot  be  answerable  for  its  kinswort.  Still  it  is 
better  to  keep  the  parsnip,  like  the  hatter,  at  a  dis- 
tance from  epic  poetry.  It  shall  therefore  be  judged 
that  Virgil's  plant  is  not  that  of  Theophrastus,  but 
a  child  of  his  own  fancy.  There  are  no  fields  of  all- 
heal '  on  this  side  of  the  grave.' 

Papaver. 

'  campum  .  .  .  urunt  Lethaeo  perfusa  papavera  somno' 

(Ge.  i.  78). 
'  Cereal e  papaver'  (lb.  212). 

umida  mella  soporiferumque  papaver'  (Ae.  iv.  486). 
1  summa  papavera  carpens  '  (Ec.  ii.  47). 

Although  there  are  six  species  of  poppy  native  to 
Italy,  Virgil  probably  deals  only  with  the  opium  poppy 
(Papaver  somniferum)  and  its  varieties.  Pliny  speaks 
of  three  kinds,  the  white,  the  black,  and  the  erratic, 
which,  he  says,  the  Greeks  call  'rhoeas.'     The  last 

96 


Papaver 

seems  to  be  the  round  prickly-headed  poppy  of  our 
chalk  fields,  while  his  black  poppy  is  our  common 
scarlet  poppy,  with  the  globose  and  smooth  seed 
vessel. 

Of  the  opium  poppy  there  are  two  varieties  still 
cultivated  in  Italy,  but  in  ancient  days,  while  both 
were  grown  for  their  seeds,  perhaps  only  one  was 
grown  for  opium.  It  is  not  clear  whether  it  was 
grown  for  this  end  in  Italy,  for  the  drug  seems 
generally  to  have  been  imported.  This  kind,  known 
as  P.  officinale,  has  an  ovoid  capsule  and  white 
seeds.  It  is  not,  I  think,  common  in  our  gardens. 
The  other  variety,  P.  hortense,  has  a  globular  cap- 
sule and  black — or  at  least  dark — seeds.  This  kind 
is  common  in  our  gardens,  and  has  established  itself 
about  Cobham  and  elsewhere  in  Kent.  In  a  wild 
state  both  varieties  have  white  petals  slightly  tinged 
with  lilac,  and  carrying  a  purple  blotch  at  the  base. 
Under  cultivation  the  flowers  often  are  red  or  crimson 
on  pure  white  and  frequently  double. 

Our  plant  is  probably  a  native  of  Mediterranean 
Europe  and  spread  eastward  with  unhappy  results. 
The  capsules  abound  in  opium  or  hashish,  which  is 
obtained  through  incisions  made  in  them  as  they 
ripen,  the  juice  coagulating  in  the  night.  The  seeds, 
for  which  the  Romans  grew  the  plant,  have  no  nar- 
cotic properties,  and  their  oil  could  be  a  substitute 
for  the  juice  of  the  olive.  Unground  they  were  used 
like  our  caraway  seeds  in  cakes.  This  may  be  one 
reason  for  our  poet's  epithet  of  '  Cereale,'  but  no 
doubt  he  was  thinking  also  of  the  frequent  repre- 

97  h 


Trees,   Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 

sentation  of  poppies  in  the  statues  of  Ceres.  The 
current  explanation  was  that  she  ate  the  seeds  to 
console  herself  for  the  loss  of  Proserpine.  A  more 
plausible  account  would  be  that  she  had  recourse 
to  hashish.  A  more  important  use  of  the  seeds  was 
their  conjunction  with  honey  as  the  normal  sweetener 
in  days  when  there  was  no  sugar  cane  or  sugar  beet. 

The  meaning  of  '  vescum  '  was  at  one  time  dis- 
puted, but  Munro  proved  that  it  must  mean  small. 
The  reference  is  to  the  size  of  the  seeds.  We  should 
not  apply  an  epithet  in  this  way,  but  the  vetch  seems 
to  be  called  '  tenuis '  by  Virgil  for  the  same  reason. 

In  our  fourth  passage  Virgil  has  fallen  into  one 
of  those  confusions  to  which  we  are  all  at  times 
liable.  He  doubtless  meant  that  the  priestess  of 
the  Hesperides  fed  her  watch-dragon  with  cakes  of 
honey  and  poppy  seeds.  The  seeds,  as  we  have 
seen,  are  not  soporific ;  but  Virgil  was  so  much  in 
the  habit  of  thinking  of  the  drowsy  poppy  that  in 
this  passage  he  transfers  the  epithet  from  the  capsules 
to  the  seeds,  and  makes  his  priestess  put  her  watch- 
dragon  to  sleep.  In  the  same  way  Horace  puts  into 
Juno's  mouth  the  phrase  '  quietis  ordinibus  deorum  ' 
at  the  very  moment  when  she  is  emphasizing  a  rest- 
lessness in  herself  which  has  lasted  for  centuries. 
A  like  inattention  was  that  of  the  modern  nobleman, 
who  said,  '  If  we  cannot  move  the  Church  we  must 
appeal  to  the  Dissenters  :  "  flectere  si  nequeo  superos, 
Acheronta  movebo."  ' 

Flower,  April  and  May. 
Italian  name,  Papavero. 

98 


Phaselus 
Phaselus. 

'vilem  .  .  .  phaselum'  (Ge.  i.  227). 

English  editors  of  Virgil  have  gone  much  astray 
on  this  plant,  most  of  them  identifying  it  with 
the  kidney  bean  or  scarlet  runner.  Even  if  they 
did  not  know  that  these  plants  are  American,  they 
should  have  been  warned  by  Virgil's  advice  to  sow 
the  plant  in  November,  for  the  kidney  bean  will  bear 
no  touch  of  frost,  and  we  do  not  sow  it  in  the  open 
until  May.  Virgil's  plant  is  Dolichus  melanoph- 
thalmus,  an  Asiatic,  still  common  in  Italian  eating- 
houses  under  the  name  of  '  fagiolo  dall'  occhio,'  the 
eye  bean.  The  ancients  ate  the  whole  pod  as  we  do 
French  beans.  Virgil's  epithet  is  perhaps  unduly 
derogatory  to  a  useful  vegetable. 

The  boat  called  '  phaselus '  is  supposed  to  have 
got  its  name  from  a  resemblance  to  the  fagiolo 
dall'  occhio. 

Flower,  summer. 

Italian  name.     See  above. 

Picea. 

'nigranti  picea  '  (Ae.  ix.  87). 

'  Naryciae  .  .  .  picis  lucos'  (Ge.  ii.  438). 

'  Idaeas  .  .  .  pices'  (Ge.  iii.  450). 

Although  the  identification  of  this  tree  has  been 
disputed,  there  are  truths  which  seem  to  point  to 
a  definite  conclusion.  It  was  the  tree  which  pro- 
duced the  best  pitch,  and  the  best  pitch  came  from 
the  mountains  of  the  extreme  south.     The  tree  of 

99 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

those  mountains  is  the  Corsican  pine  (Pinus  Laricio), 
easily  distinguished,  as  Veitch  says,  '  by  its  strict, 
erect  habit,  by  its  shortened  branches,  which  some- 
times show  a  tendency  to  curve  in  a  direction  round 
the  tree  and  upwards,  and  by  its  large,  twisted,  glau- 
cous foliage.' 

Naryx  is  a  town  of  the  Opuntian  Locri  in  Greece, 
of  which  people  the  Italian  city  of  Locri  was  held  to 
be  a  colony,  and  it  is  to  the  Italian  city  that  Virgil 
refers.  It  lies  under  the  great  range  of  Sila,  which 
he  makes  the  scene  of  the  fight  of  bulls  (Ae. 
xii.  715,  sqq.).  Doubtless  pitch  was  largely  exported 
from  Locri  to  other  parts  of  Italy.  Farmers  did  not 
usually  make  their  own  pitch,  few  of  them  having 
trees  at  hand,  but  bought  it  in  the  market  towns  and 
melted  it  into  tar  (Ge.  i.  225).  It  was  used,  as  with 
us,  for  a  preservative  of  timber,  for  an  ingredient  in 
a  sheep-wash  (Ge.  iii.  450),  and  for  marking  corn- 
sacks  (Ge.  ii.  263).  It  was  also  smeared  on  the 
corks  of  wine-jars,  as  we  put  wax  on  the  corks  of 
bottles.  Nowadays  in  the  Apennines  the  wine  that 
is  kept  for  domestic  use  is  often  put  into  bottles. 
These  stand  upright,  and,  instead  of  corks  and  tar, 
a  few  drops  of  oil  are  put  on  the  top.  When  the 
wine  is  to  be  drunk  the  oil  is  sucked  up  by  means  of 
a  little  cotton-wool. 

The  tree  was  well  fitted  to  make  a  funeral  pyre, 
but  when  in  our  first  passage  Virgil  makes  Aeneas 
employ  it  for  the  cremation  of  Misenus  he  must 
have  forgotten  that  the  tree  did  not  grow  near  the 
sea-level. 

100 


Picea 

The  trunk  of  this  pine  was  largely  used  for  sub- 
terranean water-pipes,  as  under  the  ground  it  did 
not  decay.  For  pipes  above  ground  other  material 
had  to  be  employed. 

Flower,  February  and  March. 
Italian  name,  Pino  di  Corsica. 

Pinus. 

'  pulcherrima  pinus  in  hortis  '  (Ec.  vii.  65). 
'  nautica  pinus  '  (Ec.  iv.  38). 

It  is  clear  that  at  least  two  species  are  included 
under  this  generic  name.  One  is  a  tree  of  the  south 
and  the  lowlands,  the  other  of  the  north  and  the 
hills.  The  first  is  the  stone  or  parasol  pine  (Pinus 
pinea),  a  familiar  object  in  the  scenery  of  central 
and  southern  Italy,  but  not  coming  much  north  of 
the  famous  forest  which  it  makes  near  Ravenna. 
This  is  the  tree  of  our  first  passage.  The  other  is 
our  own  Scotch  fir  (P.  silvestris),  which  is  chiefly  an 
Alpine,  but  occurs  in  the  Genoese  Apennines,  and 
as  far  south  as  the  Parmesan  district.  This  must  be 
the  tree  of  the  Vesulan  woods  which  concealed  the 
wild  boar  (Ae.  x,  708),  and  also  that  which  the  bee- 
keeper is  enjoined  to  bring  from  the  high  hills 
(Ge.  iv.  112).  The  stone  pine  is  easily  recognized 
by  its  habit  and  large  round  cones. 

Pines  were  sacred  to  Cybele,  Attis,  and  Pan  or 
Faunus.  Pan's  home  was  Mount  Maenalus  in 
Arcadia,  which  always  has  '  argutumque  nemus 
pinosque  loquentes  '  (Ec.  viii.  22).  The  trees  make 
their  own  music  in  the  wind  and  also  echo  the  notes 

101 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

of  Pan  and  the  Shepherds.  Sir  James  Frazer  sug- 
gests that  one  reason  for  the  association  of  the  pine 
with  Attis  may  have  been  the  value  of  its  seeds 
as  food.  They  are  still  gathered  in  Italy  and  sold 
and  eaten  as  fruit. 

Pine  wood  was  used  not  only  for  shipbuilding  but 
also  for  fuel.  Sprays  of  the  trees  were  used  for 
skimming  pots  of  must  or  fermenting  grape  juice 
(Ge.  i.  296).  Virgil's  word  for  the  spray  is  '  folium,' 
and  Pliny  tells  us  that  this  word  meant  a  spray  of 
a  coniferous  tree. 

It  should  be  added  that  the  dominant  pine  on 
Mount  Ida  appears  to  be  neither  of  Virgil's  species, 
but  one  which  is  found  in  some  sea-coast  districts  of 
southern  Italy.  This  is  the  Aleppo  pine  (P.  Hale- 
ponsis),  which,  according  to  Theophrastus,  was  the 
chief  shipbuilding  tree  of  Cyprus.  It  is  probably 
included  under  Virgil's  name.  It  is  a  slender  tree, 
not  growing  to  a  great  height. 

Flower,  February  to  April. 
Italian  names  :  Pino  da  pinocchi  (Stone  pine). 
Pino  di  Scozia  (Scotch  fir). 

Pirus. 

'  insere  nunc,  Meliboee,  piros '  (Ec.  i.  13  ;  cf .  Ec.  ix.  50). 

'ornus  .   .  .  incanuit  albo  |  flore  piri '  (Ge.  ii.  71). 

'  in  versum  distulit  .  .  .  eduram  .  .  .  pirum '  (Ge.  iv.  144). 

Virgil's  pear  seems  to  be  Pyrus  domestica,  which 
may  or  may  not  be  a  cultivated  form  of  the  wild 
pear  (P.  communis).  It  had  already  developed  into 
several  varieties,  of  which  Virgil  mentions  the  Syrian, 

102 


Pirus 

the  Crustumine,  and  the  Volemum  (Ge.  ii.  88).  Ac- 
cording to  Pliny  and  Columella  the  second  was  the 
best,  but  none  were  accounted  very  wholesome  unless 
stewed  in  wine.  The  Syrian,  called  also  the  Taren- 
tine,  may  be  the  bergamot.  The  third  kind  is  said 
to  get  its  name  from  '  vola,'  the  palm  of  the  hand, 
which  one  fruit  would  fill,  and  is  perhaps  the  same 
as  Pliny's  '  librale '  or  pound  pear.  Martial  men- 
tions a  good  kind,  which  '  docta  Neapolis  creavit,' 
and  Naples  retains  its  renown  for  good  horticulture. 

The  pear-tree  was  used,  as  it  still  is,  for  a  stock 
on  which  to  graft  apples  (Ge.  ii.  33).  Virgil  held 
that  the  pear  itself  could  be  grafted  on  the  manna 
ash,  but  there  is  no  kinship  between  the  two. 

The  wild  pear  sometimes  makes  large  woods,  as 
on  some  of  the  lower  slopes  of  Soracte,  which  in 
spring  are  white  with  its  blossom. 

Flower,  April  and  May. 
Italian  name,  Pero. 


Platanus. 

'  platani  steriles '  (Ge.  ii.  70). 

The  plane  (Platanus  Orientalis),  as  a  native  tree, 
does  not  come  west  of  Greece,  though  Theophrastus 
held  that  it  was  native  to  one  Adriatic  island.  Pliny, 
however,  says  that  it  was  planted  there.  It  was, 
however,  extensively  planted  and  has  established 
itself  along  the  rivers  and  the  fiumicini  of  Calabria. 
It  seems  to  have  taken  a  long  time  to  become  accli- 

103 


Trees,   Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

matized,  for  the  same  Greek  authority  says  that  the 
trees  planted  at  Reggio  by  Dionysius  never  attained 
any  size.  One  would,  however,  gather  that  in 
Augustan  times  it  was  a  fine  tree  in  much  more 
northerly  situations.  In  our  days  there  are  magni- 
ficent trees  at  Bologna. 

It  seems  to  owe  its  name  to  its  broad  leaves 
(irXarvs),  and  it  was  planted  only  for  its  beauty  and 
for  shade.  Its  habit  of  shaling  its  bark  made  it 
unfit  to  support  the  vine,  and  it  was  hence  called 
1  caelebs,'  the  bachelor  tree.  It  also  seems  doubtful 
whether  it  would  survive  the  treatment  which  the 
elm  and  the  willow  underwent  when  they  were  used 
in  the  vineyard.  The  size  of  its  leaves  is  sometimes 
assigned  as  a  reason,  but  this  would  hardly  count 
if  it  were  reduced  to  a  single  shoot. 

It  was  customary  in  summer  to  hold  the  sym- 
posium under  its  shade,  and  the  old  Corycian  was 
able  to  transplant  it  when  it  was  already  large 
enough  for  this  end,  '  ministrantem  platanum  potan- 
tibus  umbras '  (Ge.  iv.  146). 

The  London  plane  is  a  variety  w7hich  seems  to 
have  been  developed  in  the  great  city  itself.  Its 
liking  for  a  city  life  used  to  be  ascribed  to  the  shaling 
of  its  bark,  but  it  is  now  recognized  that  London 
dirt  does  its  harm  not  through  the  bark,  but  through 
the  buds  and  leaves,  in  which  point  the  plane  is  no 
better  off  than  its  fellows.  Its  fruit,  which  breaks  up 
in  the  spring,  has  come  under  some  suspicion  as  a 
contributory  cause  of  catarrh.  It  had  this  reputation 
with    Dioscorides,    and    London    newspapers    have 

104 


Platanus 

lately  admitted  correspondence  on  the  subject.     The 
guilt  of  the  tree  seems  to  be  unproved. 

The  inhabitants  of  Cos  show  a  tree  whose  trunk 
has  a  diameter  of  six  yards,  and  they  profess  to 
believe  that  it  is  old  enough  for  Hippocrates  to  have 
sat  under  it. 

Flower,  April  and  May. 
Italian  name,  Platano. 

POPULUS. 

'  Candida  populus  '  (Ec.  ix.  41). 

'  bicolor  .  .  .  populus  '  (Ae.  viii.  276). 

'  populus  iii  silvis  pulcherrima '  (Ec.  vii.  65). 

'populus  Alcidae  gratissima'  (lb.  61). 

Whether  the  abele  or  white  poplar  (Populus  alba) 
be  a  native  or  an  importation  from  eastern  Europe, 
it  was  at  any  rate  well  established  along  the  water- 
courses and  in  the  wet  woods  of  Italy.  The  young 
shoots  are  very  white  and  cottony,  and  the  leaves 
are  green  above  and  white  beneath.  The  tree  is 
sometimes  nearly  a  hundred  feet  high.  Its  wood  is 
useful  wherever  lightness  and  whiteness  are  desired. 

Hercules,  on  his  return  from  the  lower  world, 
made  himself  a  chaplet  of  poplar  leaves,  and  Homer's 
name  of  appeal?  marks  the  tree  as  a  denizen  of 
Hades. 

Both  the  black  poplar  and  the  aspen  must  have 
been  known  to  Virgil,  but  he  makes  no  direct  men- 
tion of  either.  It  is  from  the  former  that  bees  get 
much  '  fucus,'  the  rosinous  substance  used  for  pro- 
polis (Ge.  iv.  39). 

105 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

The  white  poplar  is  not  a  native  of  England,  and 
does  not  often  make  a  good  tree  in  this  country.  In 
popular  parlance  its  name  is  often  transferred  to  the 
grey  poplar  (P.  canescens),  which  is  a  native  both 
here  and  in  northern  Italy.  It  may  be  distinguished 
by  the  colour  and  by  the  toothed  and  angled  leaves 
of  the  suckers.  Virgil's  eye  must  have  seen  the 
difference  between  these  two  trees. 

Where  the  climate  was  too  hot  for  the  oak,  as  at 
Olympia,  the  abele  took  its  place  as  a  coronary  plant. 

Flower,  March  and  April. 

Italian  names,  Alberello  and  Gattice. 

Porrum  (Porrum  capitatum). 

'  capiti  nomen  debentia  porri '  (Mor .  74). 

The  leek  (Allium  porrum)  is  an  Oriental  plant, 
which  very  early  came  into  cultivation.  Except  for 
an  increase  of  size,  it  seems  to  have  changed  little 
since  Roman  times.  Columella  says  that  the  best 
were  grown  at  Ariccia  at  the  foot  of  the  Alban  hills, 
a  town  famous  for  other  vegetables  as  well. 

The  other  Roman  porrum,  called  '  sectile,'  was 
chives  (A.  schoenoprasum),  is  also  common  in  our 
gardens,  and  is  interesting  to  us  by  reason  of  its  two 
isolated  stations  in  this  country,  one  in  Cornwall, 
the  other  along  a  basaltic  dyke  in  Northumberland. 
It  has  no  Continental  station  in  western  Europe. 

Flower,  June  and  July. 
Italian  names:   Porro  (leak). 

Cipolline  (chives). 
106 


Prunus  and  Spinus 
Prunus  and  Spinus. 

'  cerea  pruna  '  (Ec.  ii.  53). 

'  spinos  iam  pruna  ferentes  '  (Ge.  iv.  145). 

The  plum  (Prunus  communis)  is  divided  into 
several  sub-species,  and  of  these  one  at  least  had 
broken  into  so  many  varieties  that  Pliny  could  say, 
'ingens  turba  prunorum.'  This  is  P.  domestica, 
of  which  the  wild  fruit  is  very  dark.  In  cultivation 
the  blue  plums  were  less  valued  than  the  yellow  or, 
as  Virgil  calls  them,  the  waxen,  such  as  our  golden 
drop. 

Virgil's  'spinus'  is  the  blackthorn  or  sloe,  under 
whose  thickets  the  Sicilian  lizards  take  refuge  from 
the  midday  heat  (Ec.  ii.  9).  It  was  used  as  a  stock 
for  grafting  the  plum,  while  the  wild  plum  itself  and 
the  bullace  (P.  insititia)  were  used  as  stocks  for  the 
cornel  (Ge.  ii.  34).  The  blackthorn  is  a  common 
hedge  shrub  in  Italy,  but  the  wild  plum  seems  to  be 
found  only  in  cultivation.  It  should  be  said  that 
Arcangeli's  P.  communis  is  the  almond.  His  name 
for  the  plum,  which  he  makes  a  distinct  species,  is 
P.  domestica. 

Flower,  March  and  April. 
Italian  names  :  Susino  (plum). 

Prugnolo  and  Vegro  (sloe). 

Robur,  Quercus,  Aesculus. 

The  two  forms  of  the  English  oak  are  so  closely 
allied  that  modern  botanists  refuse  them  specific 
rank,   and  class  them  as  varieties.     The   botanical 

107 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

differences  are  that  in  Quercus  pedunculata,  the 
common  oak,  the  leaves  have  no  stalk,  while  the 
acorn  has  a  long  one ;  whereas  in  Q.  sessiliflora,  the 
durmast  oak,  the  characters  are  reversed,  the  leaf 
having  a  stalk,  and  the  acorn  so  short  a  one  as 
hardly  to  count.  The  gardener  distinguishes  the 
latter  as  having  a  straighter  and  more  regular  stem 
and  larger  and  more  numerous  leaves.  Experiments 
seem  to  show  that  the  durmast  oak  can  boast  the 
tougher  timber,  and  an  old  belief  that  it  was  less 
lasting  seems  to  have  no  foundation. 

Small  as  the  differences  may  be,  Virgil  clearly  dis- 
tinguished the  two  varieties — 

'  Nemorumque  Iovi  quae  maxima  frondet 
Aesculus,  atque  habitae  Graiis  oracula  quercus  ' 

{Ge.  ii.  15). 

The  difference  of  size,  upon  wThich  he  here  fixes, 
probably  refers  to  the  appearance  of  the  trees  in  leaf, 
for  it  seems  that  in  the  diameter  of  the  trunk  and 
the  dimensions  of  the  limbs  neither  tree  has  any 
advantage  over  the  other.  It  is  the  density  of  leafage 
that  magnifies  the  bulk  of  the  durmast.  Nor  is  this 
all,  for  its  leaves  are  less  liable  to  disease  and  to  the 
ravages  of  caterpillars,  frequent  causes  of  disfigure- 
ment to  its  less  fortunate  congener.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  comparative  uprightness  of  its  branches 
detracts  somewhat  from  its  dignity. 

The  favourite  habitats  of  the  two  varieties  differ 
in  Italy  as  they  do  in  England.  The  durmast,  as 
Mr.  Robinson  tells  us,  inhabits  plateaux  and  slopes 
of  hills  and   mountains,  while  the  common  oak  is 

108 


Robur,   Quercus,  Aesculus 

best  in  heavy  soils  and  lower  ground.  Arcangeli 
makes  a  like  remark  concerning  their  habits  in  Italy- 
Nor  in  Italy  are  the  two  varieties,  as  with  us,  geo- 
graphically interspersed.  The  durmast  is  rare  in 
the  north  and  the  common  oak  hardly  to  be  found 
in  the  south. 

Just  as  we  use  the  name  of  oak  indiscriminately 
of  either  variety,  so  Virgil  and  the  Latins  generally 
use  the  name  of  '  quercus  '  and  the  Italians  the  name 
of  '  querce.'  When  a  distinction  is  made  the  modern 
usage  differs  from  Virgil's,  the  name  of  'eschio' 
(aesculus)  being  applied  to  the  common  oak,  while  / 
the  durmast  is  known  as  '  rovere '  (robur). 

The  striking  of  an  oak  by  lightning  was  of  course 
accounted  an  omen  (Ec.  i.  17),  and  in  fact  makes 
a  wonderful  sight.  Some  years  since  a  very  fine  but 
quite  sound  oak  in  Tewkesbury  Park  was  so  struck, 
and  only  about  six  feet  of  the  huge  trunk  left  stand- 
ing. Round  the  tree  a  circle  with  a  diameter  of  a 
hundred  yards  was  covered  with  branches  great  and 
small,  a  blow  from  which  might  well  have  killed 
a  man  if  he  had  been  within  the  range.  The 
peasantry  avowed  that  timber  so  struck  would  not 
make  fuel,  but  this  was  easily  disproved. 

The  bier,  feretrum,  on  which  a  dead  body  was 
laid  for  burning,  was  made  of  cypress  and  oak 
{Ac  xi.  65). 

It  should  be  added  that  Pliny  uses  robur  as  the 
name  of  a  distinct  species.  This  is  the  Turkey  oak, 
Q.  cerris,  whose  acorn,  as  he  rightly  says,  is  bitter 
and  rough,  and  bristly  like  a  chestnut.    The  Romans 

109 


Trees,   Shrubs,   and  Plants  of  Virgil 

held  that  the  shingles  which  roofed  the  houses  of 
early  Rome  were  made  of  this  tree. 

Flower,  April  and  May. 

Italian  names :   Eschio  and  Farnia  (Quercus 
pedunculata). 

Rovere  (Q.  sessiliflora). 

Cerro  (Q.  cerris). 

Ros,  or  Ros  Marinus  (Ge.  ii.  213). 

The  rosemary  (Rosmarinus  officinalis)  gets  its 
name  from  its  liking  for  sea  coasts  and  spray.  In 
the  inland  parts  of  Italy  it  is  found  only  in  cultiva- 
tion. Virgil  speaks  of  it  as  a  bee  plant  on  thin 
gravel  soils,  and  implies  that  it  will  hardly  grow 
on  them.  There  is,  however,  no  difficulty  in  culti- 
vating it,  and  in  this  country  it  was  once  in  high 
repute.  It  was  grown  for  its  scent  and  for  the  tonic 
oil  supplied  by  its  tops,  and  accounted  a  cure  for 
headaches.  Its  long  flowrering  season  may  make  it 
useful  for  the  yield  of  honey. 

There  seems  to  be  no  ancient  authority  for  its 
association  with  remembrance,  but  Ophelia's  phrase 
was  an  old  one  in  England. 

Flower,  March  to  October. 

Italian  names,  Ramerino  and  Rosmarino. 


no 


Rosa 

Rosa. 

'  puniceis  .  .  .  rosetis '  (Ec.  v.  17). 

'  mixta  rubent  ubi  lilia  multa  |  alba  rosa  '  (Ae.  xii.  69). 

'biferi  .  .  .  rosaria  Paesti '  (Ge.  iv.  119). 

Virgil  was  probably  acquainted  with  three  exotic 
and  several  native  species  of  the  rose,  and  the 
foreigners  had  already  broken  into  varieties  and 
produced  double  or  at  least  semi-double  flowers. 

The  cabbage  or  Provence  rose  (Rosa  centifolia) 
has  a  specific  name,  which  Linnaeus  took  from 
Pliny,  and  which  refers  to  the  double  flower,  which 
is  a  product  of  cultivation.  Mr.  Pemberton  calls 
this  rose  a  native  of  the  south  of  France,  but  this 
statement  seems  to  be  without  warrant,  and  the 
higher  authority  of  Nicholson  is  doubtless  right  in 
assigning  to  it  an  Asiatic  home.  Travellers  still  find 
it  in  the  Caucasas,  from  whence  it  came  to  Greece. 
In  Greece  it  is  said  to  have  naturalized  itself,  but 
not  so  in  Italy.  Theophrastus  knew  the  flower  in 
its  single  state,  for  he  says  that  it  has  a  flower  within 
a  flower,  the  inner  being  in  fact  the  stamens  and 
pistils.  He  compares  its  colour  with  the  oleander 
and  the  rosy  petal-tips  of  the  so-called  Egyptian 
bean  of  Pythagoras.  It  may  be  distinguished  from 
the  damask  rose  by  its  spreading  sepals  and  less 
rigid  leaves.  From  it  descend  our  cabbage  and 
moss  roses. 

Of  the  damask  rose  (R.  Damascena)  Mr.  Pem- 
berton remarks  that  it  was  first  brought  to  the 
notice  of   Europeans   by  the  Crusaders,    but   there 

in 


Trees,   Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

seems  no  reason  to  doubt  that  it  was  known  to  the 
Romans.  It  may  be  Pliny's  Milesian  rose,  which  he 
describes  as  having  the  brightest  colours,  but  not 
more  than  twelve  petals.  The  gardeners  of  Miletus 
probably  imported  it  from  Damascus,  where  King- 
lake  in  Eothen  speaks  of  it  as  growing  to  an 
immense  height.  Some  of  its  varieties  are  extremely 
vigorous  in  this  country.  I  have  a  specimen  of  the 
kind  called  Lady  Curzon,  some  ten  years  old,  which 
is  fifteen  feet  through  and  still  spreading. 

This  must  be  the  rose  of  our  third  passage,  for 
none  other  known  to  the  Romans  could  in  any  way 
be  said  to  bloom  twice.  Of  its  descendants  the  Red 
Monthly  and  the  White  Monthly.  Mr.  Pemberton 
says  that  both  produce  '  a  second  and  even  a  third 
crop  of  flowers  in  favourable  seasons.'  Some  com- 
mentators speak  of  an  autumnal  crop  of  roses  at 
Pesto,  but  this  crop  is  of  their  own  invention.  No 
ancient  authority  knows  anything  of  autumnal  roses, 
and  the  interval  between  the  two  crops  of  the  damask 
is  very  brief.  Considering  how  short  the  normal 
time  of  blossoming  is,  we  need  not  wonder  that  the 
Romans,  who  valued  the  flower  so  highly,  welcomed 
any  lengthening  of  its  season.  By  Domitian's  time 
they  had  learnt  the  art  of  hastening  the  flowering 
season  by  growing  their  roses  in  greenhouses  or 
frames,  '  specularia,'  which  had  already  been  used 
to  give  Tiberius  cucumbers  all  the  year  round. 
There  is,  however,  no  mention  of  these  devices  in 
Virgil's  time.  The  so-called  greenhouse  of  Maecenas 
on  the  Esquiline,  even  if  it  did  contain  plants,  a  thing 

112 


Rosa 

by  no  means  certain,  was,  as  any  gardener  can  see, 
in  no  sense  a  forcing  house. 

Virgil's  third  rose  (R.  Gallica)  claims,  though  not 
undisputedly,  to  be  a  native  of  Italy,  and  is  recog- 
nized as  such  by  Arcangeli.  Its  name  of  the  Provins 
rose  comes  from  the  town  near  Paris  where  it  was 
cultivated  for  the  manufacture  of  conserves.  What- 
ever its  origin,  it  has  got  a  strong  footing  in  Europe, 
and  spreads  so  fast  by  suckers  as  to  become  in  some 
cases  a  pestilent  weed.  It  is  the  rose  of  Assisi, 
where  it  fills  the  garden  at  Porziuncula,  and  the  red 
fungus  which  sometimes  stains  its  leaves  has  given 
rise  to  the  fantastic  legend  that  it  displays  the  blood 
of  St.  Francis.  It  has  no  large  prickles,  and  one 
could  roll  in  it  with  little  damage.  Those  who 
desire  torture  may  get  it  better  from  the  damask. 
The  best-known  representative  of  the  Provins  rose 
in  our  gardens  is  the  double  red  and  white  Rosa 
Mundi. 

Of  these  roses  Pliny  and  others  mention  a  good 
many  varieties,  but  it  seems  impossible  to  identify 
them,  or  to  be  sure  that  they  remain  in  cultivation. 

To  come  to  native  roses,  we  cannot  suppose  that 
Virgil  failed  to  observe  the  white  and  fragrant 
blossoms  of  R.  sempervirens,  a  hedge  plant  in  all 
the  lower  grounds  of  Italy.  We  know  it  best  in  the 
double  form  called  Felicite  et  Perpetue.  To  this 
our  list  must  add  at  least  the  dog  rose  and  the 
Scotch  brier. 

Of  the  uses  of  the  rose  Virgil  says  no  more  than 
that  the  dried  petals  make  a  medicine  for  sick  bees 

U3  I 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

(Ge.  ii.  466).  From  poets  of  a  more  festive  spirit 
and  stronger  constitutions  we  learn  that  roses  were 
worn  on  the  head  at  dinner  and  scattered  about  the 
floor,  or  dropped,  as  in  Nero's  golden  house,  from 
a  reversible  ceiling.  The  luxurious  would  lie  on  the 
petals,  and  the  Sybarite  complain  when  these  were 
laid  edgeways.  If  a  Roman  died  in  the  flowering 
season  they  were  strewn  upon  his  tomb. 

Columella's  recipe  for  forcing  roses  may  tempt 
some  adventurous  spirit.  At  a  little  distance  from 
the  stem  you  make  a  circular,  shallow  trench  as  soon 
as  the  flower-buds  show,  and  occasionally  fill  it  with 
warm  wTater.  It  may  be  presumed  that  the  tempera- 
ture must  be  less  than  that  which  proved  fatal  to  the 
plantings  of  Triptolemus  Yellowlees. 

Flower,  May. 
Italian  name,  Rosa. 

Rubus. 

'  rubus  asper  '  (Ec.  iii.  89). 

'  rubos  horrentes'  (Ge.  iii.  315). 

'  nunc  facilis  rubea  texatur  fiscina  virga5  (Ge.  i.  266). 

In  the  brambles  or  blackberries  we  have  a  con- 
fusing genus,  and  of  the  species  Rubus  fruticosus 
Baker  recognized  more  than  thirty  varieties  in  this 
country.  Arcangeli  contents  himself  with  seven 
types  and  a  few  varieties,  and  probably  Virgil,  like 
many  Englishmen,  called  them  all  simply  black- 
berries. As  with  us,  the  commonest  kind  seems  to 
be  R.  discolor,  which  has  large  pink  flowers,  white, 
under-surface  to  its  leaves,  and  a  juicy  fruit. 


Rubus 

Pliny  tells  us  that  the  withies  of  the  bramble  with 
the  prickles  removed  were  used  to  make  baskets. 
Nevertheless,  in  our  third  passage  some  may  prefer 
to  follow  Servius  in  reading  Rubea,  and  see  a  refer- 
ence to  willows,  but  there  is  no  other  evidence  that 
the  town  of  Rubi  was  famous  for  willows. 

Blackberries,  from  their  likeness  to  mulberries, 
were  called  mora,  a  name  surviving  in  the  French 
'  murs  sauvages  '  and  the  Italian  '  more  del  rovo  ' 
and  '  more  di  macchia.' 

Flower,  June  and  July. 
Italian  names,  Rogo  and  Rovo. 


Rumex. 

'  fecundus  .  .  .  rumex '  {Mor.  73). 

There  are  ma^7  species  of  dock,  but  there  can  be 
little  doubt  that  ours  is  the  curled  dock  (Rumex 
crispus),  which  still  bears  the  names  of '  romice '  and 
1  rombice.'  It  is  marked  by  its  waved  leaves  and  its 
growth  in  dry  places,  many  of  the  genus  having 
aquatic  habits.  The  name  may  also  cover  the  fiddle 
dock  (R.  pulcher),  which  owes  its  name  to  the  shape 
of  the  leaves.  In  Italy  it  is  the  most  common  kind, 
but  in  England  is  not  found  north  of  the  Midland 
counties. 

The  epithet  refers  to  the  patience  which  the  plant 
shows  on  the  gathering  of  its  leaves.  They  grow 
again  with  great   rapidity,   and  no  plant  seems  to 

US 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

suffer  less  from  this  treatment.     They  were  cooked 
and  eaten  like  spinach. 

Flower,  May  and  June. 
Italian  names.     See  above. 

Ruscus. 

'  horridior  rusco  '  (Ec.  vii.  42). 

'  aspera  rusci  |  vimina'  (Ge.  ii.  413). 

The  butcher's  broom  (Ruscus  aculeatus)  is  occa- 
sionally wild  in  southern  England,  and  large  patches 
of  it  may  often  be  seen  on  the  hills  above  the  Italian 
lakes.  Its  flowers  and  red  berries,  like  those  of 
asparagus,  grow  on  branches  which  have  taken  the 
shape  of  leaves.  Though  it  dies  down  every  year, 
its  growth  is  shrubby,  and  the  sharp  spines  explain 
Virgil's  epithets.  In  Italy  it  is  still  used  for  making 
brooms.  It  can  hardly  have  made  good  withies  for 
tying  up  vines,  though  Virgil  seems  to  imply  that  it 
was  used  for  this  purpose. 

Flower,  February. 
Italian  name,  Pungi-topo. 

Ruta. 

'rutam  .  .  .  rigentem '  (Mor.  89). 

Rue,  or  the  herb  of  grace  (Ruta  graveolens),  is  not 
a  common  plant  in  any  part  of  Italy.  It  was,  how- 
ever, cultivated,  and  seems  to  have  played  the  part 
which  parsley  plays  with  us.  Thus  it  was  used  to 
flavour  soups  and  other  dishes,  and  to  garnish  eggs 

116 


Ruta 

and  the  like.     As  an  eye-salve  it   already  had  the 
renown  of  which  we  hear  in  a  medieval  line, 

1  Auxilio  rutae,  vir  lippe,  videbis  acute,' 
and  in  Milton's 

' .  .  .  purg'd  with  Euphrasie  and  Rue 
The  visual  nerve.' 

The  name  of  '  herb  of  grace  '  is  not  ancient,  and 
was  perhaps  due  to  a  false  etymology. 

Flower,  July  and  August. 
Italian  name,  Ruta. 


Saliunca. 

'puniceis  humilis  quantum  saliunca  rosetis  .  .  .  cedit' 

[Ec.  v.  17). 

The  Celtic  nard  (Valeriana  Celtica),  though  found 
in  the  Piedmontese  Alps,  was  not  a  native  of  Italy 
in  the  more  ancient  sense.  It  was,  however,  culti- 
vated for  use  in  perfumery,  as  was  at  one  time  our 
own  wild  valerian.  The  flowers  are  usually  yellowish, 
but  it  is  said  that  they  are  sometimes  red,  and  to 
this  colour  Virgil  refers.  Its  scent  also  was  like 
that  of  the  rose.  Keightley  supposed  Virgil  to  allude 
to  the  use  of  roses  in  chaplets,  for  which  the  valerian 
would  be  too  brittle.  I  see  no  such  allusion.  The 
poet  seems  to  be  talking  of  garden  beds. 

Flower,  July. 


117 


Trees,   Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 
Salix  and  Siler. 

'genus  haud  unura  .  .  .  salici '  (Ge.  ii.  83). 

'  viminibus  salices  fecundae'  (ib.  446). 

'  dulce  .  .  .  lenta  salix  f eto  pecori '  (Ec.  iii.  83). 

'  (apes)  pascuntur  .  .  .  glaucas  salices '  (Ge.  iv.  182). 

'  lenta  salix  .  .  .  pallenti  cedit  olivae '  (Ec.  v.  16). 

'  vescas  salicum  frondes  '  (Ge.  iii.  175). 

'  glauca  canentia  fronde  salicta  '  (Ge.  ii.  13). 

'salignas  .  .  .  umbonum  crates'  (Ae.  vii.  632). 

'  molle  siler'  (Ge.  ii.  12). 

The  willow  tribe  are  a  large  and  confusing  people, 
and,  since  modern  botanists  are  at  issue  concerning 
them,  we  cannot  expect  Virgil  to  be  exact  in  his 
specific  distinctions.     He,  of  course,  recognized  that 
there  were    several   species   (Ge.  ii.   84).     Arcangeli 
counts  twenty-seven    in    Italy  beside  varieties   and 
hybrids.     Some   of  these,  however,  are  not  native, 
the    osier    (Salix  viminalis)   being   one.     This   is   of 
northern    origin,    was    not    known    to    the    ancient 
Romans,  and  even  now  is  not  much  cultivated  south 
of  Lombardy.     Linnaeus  was  less  happy  than  usual 
in  his  specific  name,  for,  while  'Juvenal  may  well  be 
right  in  calling  the  viminal  'dictum  a  vimine  collem,' 
this  must  have  been  another  species,  probably  the 
purple  osier  (S.  purpurea),  of  which  there  may  have 
been  a  bed  at  the  foot  of  the  hill.     This  was  prob- 
ably the  Amerine  willow  (Ge.  i.  265),  which  supplied 
withies  for  tying  vines.     It  grows  to  some  nine  feet 
high,  and  is  common  on  some  of  our  English  streams. 
Columella  speaks  of  its  red  stems. 

Round    Mantova  willows,    especially  S.   triandra, 

118 


Salix  and   Siler 

were  and  are  used  to  support  the  vines,  and  amid 
these  Gallus  desired  to  lie  : 

'  mecura  inter  salices  lenta  sub  vite  iaceret '  (Ec.  x.  40) . 

The  willow  which  Menalcas  avows  to  be  less 
beautiful  than  the  olive  was  probably  the  white 
willow  (S.  alba),  which,  however,  greatly  exceeds 
the  olive  in  stature  and,  as  some  may  think,  in 
beauty. 

Goats  feed  on  the  leaves  of  various  willows  and 
bees  go  to  the  flowers  for  honey.  Virgil  knew  them 
as  hedge  plants  (Ge.  ii.  434).  Shields  in  old  days  had 
been  made  of  wicker-work,  and  the  wood  made  the 
sickle  of  Priapus  (Ge.  iv.  no).  Virgil's  references 
to  ties  and  withies  are  numerous,  and  our  nursery- 
men still  use  several  willows  for  this  purpose. 

It  is  impossible  to  identify  '  siler.'  It  is  a  tree  or 
shrub  of  wet  places,  and  probably  some  willow. 

Flower,  spring. 

Italian  names :    Salcio   rosso    (S.    purpurea) ; 

Salcio     da     pertiche      (S. 

alba). 

Sardonia  Herba. 

'  Sardoniis  .  .  .  amarior  herbis '  (Ec.  vii.  41). 

Of  all  the  crowfoots  none  is  more  acrid  than 
Ranunculus  sceleratus,  which  is  held  to  be  the  plant 
here  indicated,  though,  so  far  from  being  confined  to 
Sardinia,  it  is  common  in  wet  places  throughout 
Italy,  as  it  is  with  us.  The  mere  handling  of  the 
plant  will  cause  irritation  of  the  skin. 

119 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 

The  phrase  of  sardonic  laughter  seems  to  be  a 
piece  of  popular  etymology.  Homer's  word  for  this 
laughter  is  aapSdvios,  of  which  the  derivation  is 
unknown.  The  effect  of  eating  our  plant  is  to  con- 
tort the  face,  and  the  resemblance  between  Homer's 
adjective  and  the  adjective  of  Sardinia  seems  to 
have  made  the  Romans  think  that  the  plant  must 
come  from  that  island,  though  they  could  have 
found  it  in  their  own  ditches.  The  small  yellow 
flowers  do  not  attract  attention. 

Flower,  May  and  June. 


Scilla  {Ge.  iii.  451). 

In  our  passage  Virgil  speaks  of  the  squill,  Urginea 
scilla,  as  an  ingredient  in  sheep-wash.  It  is  common 
on  Italian  coasts,  and  its  large  green  bulbs  are  very 
conspicuous  on  the  mud-heaps  between  Crotone  and 
the  solitary  column  which  remains  of  the  Temple  of 
Hera  on  the  Lacinian  promontory.  Our  own  sup- 
plies of  the  useful  drug  are  said  to  come  chiefly  from 
Spain. 

Palladius  mentions  a  curious  use  for  the  bulb. 
It  was  split  in  two  and  the  halves  tied  round  the 
cutting  of  a  fig-tree.  It  seems  to  have  been  an  early 
form  of  what  gardeners  call  '  bottom  heat,'  but  there 
cannot  have  been  much  of  it. 

Flower,  August  to  October. 
Italian  name,  Scilla. 


120 


Serpyllum 
Serpyllum. 

'  olentia  late  |  serpylla  '  (Ge.  iv.  30). 

The  common  form  of  thyme  (Thymus  serpyllum) 
is  confined  to  the  higher  lands  in  Italy,  but  the 
narrow-leaved  variety  comes  somewhat  lower  down. 
The  plant  is  Shakespeare's  wild  thyme,  and  Milton 
makes  it  grow,  as  it  might,  on  the  rocks  above  a 
desert  cave  or  grotto.  Virgil  names  it  as  a  bee 
plant,  and  the  leaves  are  braised  with  garlic  for  the 
reaper's  midday  meal. 

For  garden  thyme,  which  is  not  a  native  of  Eng- 
land, see  Thymum. 

Flower,  May  to  September. 
Italian  name,  Pepolino. 

Sorbus. 

'  f ermento  atque  acidis  imitantur  vitea  sorbis '  {Ge.  iii.  380). 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  passage  refers  to 
some  kind  of  beer  and  some  kind  of  cider,  and  it 
has  been  inferred  that  both  liquors  were  made  in 
Italy.  But  Virgil  is  speaking  of  Scythians,  and  a 
juster  inference  would  be  that  these  liquors  were  not 
made  in  Italy,  and  that  Virgil  had  heard  of  them 
through  travellers.  At  a  later  date  they  were  made 
in  Italy. 

The  service-tree  (Pyrus  sorbus)  is  much  like  the 
rowan  or  mountain  ash,  but  the  berries  are  larger. 
The  fruit  is  too  austere  to  be  eaten  until  it  has  been 
bletted  like  a  medlar,  and  become  brown  and  soft. 
It  would  seem  that  the  Romans  had  not  discovered 

121 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

this  art,  and  Martial  therefore  says  that  sorbs  are  fit 
food  only  for  a  slave.  There  were  several  varieties 
of  the  fruit. 

This  tree  is  not  native  in  England,  though  one 
tree  grows,  apparently  wild,  in  Wyre  Forest.  It 
must  be  distinguished  from  our  own  wild  service- 
tree,  which  has  smaller  berries  and  undivided  leaves. 
Both  are  wild  in  Italy,  and  the  former  is  cultivated 
there  for  its  fruit. 

Flower,  May  and  June. 
Italian  name,  Sorbo. 

Suber. 

'  silvestri  subere  '  (Ae.  xi.  554). 

'  corticibus  .  .  .  suta  cavatis  .  .  .  alvearia '  (Ge.  iv.  33). 

'  tegmina  queis  capitum  raptus  de  subere  cortex  '  (Ae.  vii.  742). 

The  cork-tree  (Quercus  suber)  is  a  native  of  central 
and  southern  Italy,  and  the  men  with  cork  helmets 
are  Campanians.  Though  the  word  '  cortex  '  is  not 
limited  to  the  bark  of  the  cork-tree,  we  have  Colu- 
mella's word  that  this  was  the  best  material  for 
hives,  and  doubtless  this  was  what  Virgil  meant. 
When  he  says  that  bees  sometimes  establish  them- 
selves '  cavis  corticibus,'  he  uses  the  word  in  a  wider 
sense.  The  farmers  who,  on  the  feast  of  Bacchus, 
put  on  masks  made  of  hollow  '  cortices,'  doubtless 
used  cork  when  they  could  get  it.  Cork  was  also 
used  as  stoppers  for  wine-jars,  tar  being  smeared 
over  it.  Roman  ladies,  like  Trollope's  Lady  Rosina 
de  Courcey,  had  cork  soles  to  their  winter  shoes. 

The  tree  is  evergreen,  with  slightly  toothed  leaves, 

122 


Suber 

and  is  of  much  less  stature  than  the  oak.     The  cup 
of  the  acorn  is  covered  with  velvety  scales. 

Flower,  April  and  May. 
Italian  name,  Sughera. 

Taeda. 

'  taedas  silva  alta  ministrat'  (Ge.  ii.  431). 

Originally  the  name  of  a  tree,  our  word  more 
often  signifies  a  torch,  and  probably  has  that  mean- 
ing in  this  passage.  Virgil,  however,  must  have 
known  the  material  of  the  tree  even  if  he  never  saw 
it  alive.  It  is  the  Swiss  stone-pine  (Pinus  cembra), 
a  native  of  lofty  mountains,  and  found  on  the  Alps 
within  sight  of  the  plain  of  Lombardy.  The  strong 
aroma,  at  its  highest  point  in  the  spring,  points  to 
the  very  rosinous  character  which  made  it  of  service 
for  torches.  The  tree  has  a  close,  erect,  and  some- 
what oval  habit  of  growth.  When  Horace  com- 
pared Hannibal's  descent  upon  Italy  to  a  fire 
sweeping  'per  taedas,'  he  doubtless  was  speaking 
of  conifers  generally,  and  had  no  special  kind  in 
view. 

Flower,  July. 

Italian  name,  Pino  Zimbro. 

Taxus. 

'  (amant)  aquilonem  et  frigora  taxi '  (Ge.  ii.  113). 

'  taxi  torquentur  in  arcus '  (ib.  448). 

'  sic  tibi  Cyrnaeas  fugiant  examina  taxos'  (Ec.  ix.  30). 

In  Italy  the   yew   (Taxus   baccata)    is  exclusively 
a  tree  of  the  higher  ground,  and  except  in  Liguria 

123 


Trees,   Shrubs,  and   Plants   of  Virgil 

does  not  come  near  the  coast.  Virgil  says  that  it  is 
characteristic  of  cold  soils,  but  with  us  it  is  most 
plentiful  on  chalky  soils  (Ge.  ii.  257).  Perhaps 
Virgil,  seeing  it  flourish  with  a  north  aspect,  made 
the  false  inference  that  it  liked  the  soil  also  to  be 
cold.  Theophrastus  observed  that  it  was  a  moun- 
tain tree  and  liked  shade,  but  is  silent  as  to  the 
soil. 

Our  second  passage  shows  that,  as  in  medieval 
England,  the  wood  of  the  yew  was  shaped  into 
bows.  The  tree  was  also  grown  in  gardens,  and 
sometimes  became  the  victim  of  the  topiary,  though 
it  was  the  box  that  more  often  suffered  the  in- 
dignity of  being  clipped  into  animal  and  inanimate 
shapes. 

Virgil  forbids  the  planting  of  yews  near  a  bee- 
hive {Ge.  iv.  47),  and  was  perhaps  right  in  holding 
that  the  flower  of  the  yew  made  honey  bitter. 
Knowing  that  Corsican  honey  had  an  ill  flavour, 
he  seems  in  our  third  passage  to  have  assumed  that 
the  bitterness  was  due  to  this  tree.  Travellers  in 
Corsica,  however,  set  it  down  to  the  box.  Arcangeli 
says  that  yew  is  rare  in  all  the  islands. 

In  the  passage  referred  to  above  concerning  soil 
Virgil  calls  yews  '  nocentes.'  The  word  covers  several 
kinds  of  damage.  Grass  will  hardly  grow  under  a 
yew,  and  the  roots  extend  a  long  way.  The  ancients 
held  that  both  the  berries  and  the  leaves  were 
poisonous.  I  have  often  eaten  the  mucilaginous 
berry,  and  if  there  is  poison  in  it  it  must  be  in  the 
seeds.      Cattle  can  eat  the  shoots  off  the  tree  ap- 

124 


Taxus 

parently  with  impunity,  but  if  they  feed  on  branches 
that  have  been  gathered  and  left  to  ferment  they  die 
of  it. 

Flower,  January  to  April. 

Italian  name,  Tasso. 

Terebinthus. 

'  per  artem  |  inclusum  buxo  aut  Oricia  terebintho  |  lucet  ebur ' 

(Ae.  x.  135). 

The  terebinth,  or  turpentine-tree  (Pistacia  Tere- 
binthus), now  grows  wild  in  Italy,  and  the  point 
of  Virgil's  epithet  is  uncertain.  According  to 
Servius,  a  variety  with  very  black  wood  came  from 
Oricus  in  Epirus,  but  it  looks  as  though  Servius, 
after  the  manner  of  scholiasts,  had  concocted  his 
note  out  of  the  passage.  Virgil  did  not  scruple  to 
couple  a  foreign  name  with  an  Italian  tree  or  plant 
if  the  foreign  town  or  country  was  famous  for  it. 
Thus,  in  spite  of  all  the  olives  of  southern  Italy,  he 
calls  the  fruit '  Sicyonian  bacam,'  because  the  Achaean 
town  of  Sicyon  was  famous  for  its  olives. 

In  Greece,  Theophrastus  tells  us,  the  wood  was 
not  used,  and  in  Italy  the  art  of  inlaying,  to  which 
our  passage  refers,  was  doubtless  later  than  his  time, 
however  fashionable  it  may  have  become  in  the  later 
days  of  the  Republic.  The  Greeks  by  incision  got 
a  rosin  from  the  exudation  of  the  tree.  This  is  now 
called  Chian  turpentine,  as  most  of  it  comes  from  the 
Isle  of  Skio. 

Flower,  April  and  May. 
Italian  name,  Terebinto. 
125 


Trees,   Shrubs,   and   Plants  of  Virgil 
Thymbra. 

'graviter  spirantis  copia  thymbrae'  (Ge.  iv.  31). 
The  species  of  savory  here  named  is  probably 
Satureia  hortensis,  a  small  labiate  annual  cultivated 
for  the  aromatic  tops,  which  were  used  in  cookery 
and  for  flavouring  vinegar.  In  England  this  is 
known  as  summer  savory.  Our  plant  may,  however, 
be  another  species,  S.  montana,  known  here  as  winter 
savory.  It  is  a  shrubby  perennial.  Whichever  of 
the  two  was  called  thymbra,  the  other  was  called 
satureia,  from  which  name  savory  is  derived.  The 
Greek  Ovfifipa  was  perhaps  a  third  species  not  native 
to  Italy. 

Flower,  Summer. 

Italian  names,  Santoreggia  and  Savoreggia. 

Thymum. 

'Cecropium  .  .  .  thymum'  (Ge.  iv.  270). 

'  thymo  mihi  dulcior  Hyblae  '  (Ec.  vii.  37). 

'redolent  .  .  .  thymo  fragmantia  mella  '  (Ge.  iv.  169). 

I  believe  that  two  species  are  included  under  this 
name,  and  that  the  Athenian  and  the  Italian  thyme 
were  not  the  same  plant.  The  former  is  admittedly 
Thymus  capitatus,  which  is  found  in  southern  but 
not  in  northern  Italy.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
species  which  occurs  all  along  the  western  side  of 
the  peninsula,  T.  vulgaris,  seems  not  to  be  found  in 
Greece.  This  is  the  plant  still  called  '  timo  '  in  Italy, 
and  commonly  cultivated  in  our  gardens  under  the 
name  of  garden  thyme. 

126 


Thymum 

Thyme  was  evidently  the  chief  bee  plant,  though 
its  season  of  flowering  hardly  exceeds  a  month.  It 
was  also  used  for  fumigating  the  hive  (Ge.  iv.  241), 
and  as  a  medicine  for  its  inhabitants  (ib.  267).  The 
leaves  were  also  used  in  cookery,  and  when  it  was  to 
be  dried  for  this  purpose  it  was  held  best  to  dry  it  in 
the  shade.     Modern  authorities  agree  with  this  view. 

Writers  on  Shakespeare's  wild  thyme  frequently 
quote  Virgil,  but  the  two  poets  have  different  plants 
in  mind. 

Flower,  June. 
Italian  name,  Timo. 

Tilia. 

'(apes)  pascuntur  .  .  .  pinguem  tiliam '  (Ge.  iv.  183). 
'  tiliae  leves  '  (Ge.  ii.  449). 

The  small-leaved  lime  (Tilia  parvifolia)  is  native 
in  Rockingham  Forest  and  perhaps  in  a  few  other 
places  in  southern  England.  In  Italy  it  is  confined 
to  the  high  ground.  The  limes  which  the  old 
Corycian  grew  at  Taranto  may  have  been  one  of 
the  sub-species,  either  T.  intermedia,  the  common 
lime,  or  T.  platyphylla,  the  broad-leaved  lime. 
Virgil  gives  the  Corycian  credit  for  being  success- 
ful with  a  hill -land  tree  at  so  low  an  altitude. 
I  take  '  pinguem  '  to  refer  to  the  sticky  leaves,  as  in 
Juvenal's  '  pinguia  crura  luto  '  and  Martial's  '  pin- 
guis  virga,'  a  stick  plastered  with  bird-lime.  All 
varieties  of  the  trees  seem  to  be  beloved  by  bees. 

The  timber,  which  Virgil  commends  for  the  yoke 
of  the  plough,  is  light,  and  can  be  planed  smooth  : 

127 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

hence  it  figures  both  as  *  levis '  (Ge.  i.  173),  and  as 
'  levis  '  {Ge.  ii.  449).  It  is  well  fitted  for  carving, 
and  was  much  used  by  Grinling  Gibbons. 

Bass  made  of  the  inner  bark,  '  philyra,'  was  used 
for  tying  flowers  into  chaplets  and  garlands. 

Flower,  June  and  July. 

Italian  name,  Tiglio. 

Tribulus  :  see  Lappa. 

Tinus. 

Philargyrius  tells  us  that  in  the  phrase  which  ap- 
pears in  our  manuscripts  as  '  tiliae  atque  uberrima 
pinus  '  (Ge.  iv.  141)  Virgil  left  a  choice  of  two  read- 
ings, *  pinus  '  and  '  tinus.'  The  latter  is  our  garden 
laurustinus  (Viburnum  tinus),  characteristically 
called  by  Conington  '  a  kind  of  wild  bay-tree,' 
though  the  bay  is  wild  in  Italy,  and  the  laurustinus 
is  nowise  akin  to  it.  The  Corycian  grew  it  for  its 
beauty  only,  for  at  Taranto  the  flowers  would  be 
over  before  his  bees  were  much  about. 

In    Ge.   iv.   112,    *  ipse    thymum    pinosque  ferens 
de  montibus   altis,'  the    Palatine   manuscript   gives 
*  tinos  '  for  '  pinos.'     This  is  certainly  a  false  read- 
ing.    The   laurustinus   is   eminently   a   tree   of  the 
coastland,  and  flowers  in  the  dead  time  of  the  year. 
Even  in  Mid-Sussex  it  suffers  some  damage  in  a  hard 
frost,  and  it  would  never  be  so  foolish  as  of  its  own 
accord  to  face  a  winter  in  the  Apennines. 
Flower,  January  and  February. 
Italian  name,  Lauro-tino. 
128 


Triticum 
Triticum. 

'  triticeam  messem '  (Ge.  i.  219). 

Wheat  (Triticum  vulgare),  the  reputed  invention 
of  Osiris,  was  perhaps  developed  out  of  spelt  or  some 
other  grass  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  The  Italian 
variety  was  bearded,  as  it  appears  in  the  statues 
of  Ceres.  Though  Varro  gives  us  the  names  for  the 
different  parts  of  the  ear,  some  of  the  lexicons  are 
not  exact.  The  ear  itself  is  '  spica,'  whence  '  spicea 
messis '  (Ge.  i.  314),  though  Virgil  usually  avails 
himself  of  synecdoche  and  uses  '  arista '  in  its  stead 
(Ge.  i.  8,  etc.).  This  is  properly  the  beard,  and  in 
1  molli  arista  '  (Ec.  iv.  28)  seems  to  have  that  mean- 
ing, the  epithet  applying  to  the  flexibility  of  the 
beard.  It  must,  however,  be  said  that  '  mollis,'  as 
applied  to  plants,  seems  to  be  a  difficult  and  shifty 
adjective.  The  bract,  which  forms  an  envelope  to 
the  organs  of  reproduction,  is  '  gluma,'  and  the  seed 
or  grain  of  corn  is  '  granum.'  The  names  of  other 
parts  of  the  plant  apply  to  other  cereal  grasses  as 
welL  Thus  'stipula'  and  'culmus'  are  synonyms 
for  the  stem,  halm,  or  straw,  while  '  palea  '  is  the 
chaff. 

Wheat  broke  into  varieties,  the  best  for  colour 
and  weight  being  '  robus.' 

Italian  name,  Grano. 


129 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 
Tus. 

'  India  mittit  ebur,  molles  sua  tura  Sabaei '  (Ge.  i.  57). 
1  solis  est  turea  virga  Sabaeis  '  (Ge.  ii.  117). 
'  turiferis  Panchai'a  pinguis  harenis  '  (ib.  139). 
Cf.  Ae.  i.  417 ;  iv.  453  ;  xi.  481. 

Although  Virgil  is  mistaken  in  supposing  that 
Arabia  or  the  land  of  Sheba  alone  produced  frankin- 
cense, it  is  probable  that  no  other  country  exported 
it  to  Rome.  Theophrastus  tells  us  that  it  came 
from  Arabia,  and  gives  travellers'  accounts  of  the 
tree  and  the  methods  of  collecting  the  gum.  The 
Arabians  seem  to  have  lost  the  art  of  cultivating  the 
tree,  for  nowadays  their  product  is  inferior  to  that 
which  comes  from  the  islands  of  the  Indian  Archi- 
pelago. 

The  tree  which  produces  it  is  either  Boswellia 
serrata  or  B.  Carteri,  perhaps  varieties  of  the  same 
species,  which  have  a  balsamic  and  resinous  juice. 
Its  use  in  religious  ceremonies  arises  from  the  belief 
that  the  smoke  carries  the  scent  upward  to  the  noses 
of  the  gods. 

Ulmus. 

'  ulmis  adiungere  vites  '  (Ge.  i.  2). 

'  ulmus  opaca  ingens'  (Ae.  vi.  283). 

'  nee  gemere  aeria  cessabit  turtur  ab  ulmo'  (Ec.  i.  59). 

'genus  haud  unum  .  .  .  fortibus  ulmis'  (Ge.  ii.  83). 

Recent  investigation  has  considerably  modified 
our  views  of  the  species  of  elms.  The  common 
English  elm  used  to  be  accounted  a  Roman  im- 
portation, but  it  is  now  ascertained  that  the  English 

130 


Ulmus 

and  the  Roman  elms  are  specifically  distinct.  Our 
own  retains  the  name  of  Ulmus  campestris,  and 
appears  to  be  a  native  of  southern  England.  Its 
habit  of  not  producing  fertile  seeds  must  be 
ascribed  to  its  power  of  multiplying  itself  by  suckers 
rather  than  by  a  foreign  origin.  The  Italian  species 
has  been  named  U.  australis,  and  is  distinguished 
by  its  thicker  leaves  and  their  larger  and  more 
cuspidate  apex.  When  Virgil  tells  us  that  there  are 
several  kinds  he  doubtless  means  the  varieties  into 
which  the  species  easily  breaks,  and  also  the  wych 
elm,  U.  montana,  which  is  found  in  the  higher 
ground  of  northern  Italy. 

The  elm  was  largely  planted  to  support  the  vines 
in  a  vinetum,  but  seems  to  have  produced  nothing 
that  was  of  use  in  a  vinea.  Its  timber  made  the 
beam  of  the  plough  (Ge.  i.  170),  and  its  leaves  served 
for  litter  and  fodder  (Ge.  ii.  446). 

Since  elm  timber  does  not  readily  warp,  it  was 
the  proper  material  for  '  cardines.'  These,  with  the 
good  leave  of  the  lexicons,  are  not  hinges,  but  up- 
right beams  let  into  sockets,  and  having  the  planks 
of  the  door  attached  to  them. 

Flower,  February  and  March. 
Italian  name,  Olmo. 


I3I 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 
Ulva. 

'  ulvam  .  .  .  palustrem  '  (Ge.  iii.  175). 

'  viridi  procumbit  in  ulva '  (Ec.  viii.  88). 

'  in  ulva  |  delitui '  (Ae.  ii.  135). 

'  informi  limo  glaucaque  ...  in  ulva  '  (ib.  vi.  416). 

This,  which  one  might  expect  to  be  among  the 
easiest,  is  among  the  more  difficult  to  identify. 
That  the  name  indicates  a  species,  and  is  not,  as 
some  have  supposed,  a  general  name  for  marsh 
plants  with  sword-like  leaves,  is  sufficiently  proved 
by  two  lists  in  Ovid's  Metamorphoses — 

'  Non  illic  canna  palustris,  k 

nee  steriles  ulvae,  nee  acuta  cuspide  iunci '  (iv.  288) — 

a  passage  which  describes  a  limpid  Lycian   lake ; 
and  this  description  of  the  scene  of  a  boar-hunt : 

'  Tenet  ima  lacunae 
lenta  salix  ulvaeque  leves  iuncique  palustres 
viminaque  et  longa  parvae  sub  harundine  cannae '  (viii.  335). 

It  is  clear  that  '  harundo  '  is  Ovid's  name  for  the 
great  or  pole  reed,  Arundo  donax,  and  '  canna '  his 
name  for  the  common  reed,  Phragmites  communis. 
Our  passage  and  many  others  show  that  *  ulva  '  was 
a  common  marsh  plant  with  green  leaves,  that  it 
grew  in  masses,  and  that  it  was  high  enough,  at 
least,  for  a  crouching  man  to  hide  n.  Virgil's 
epithet  of  *  glauca  '  does  not  help  us,  because  the 
plant  of  this  passage  belongs  to  the  under-world, 
where  are  no  bright  colours  and  no  things  of 
earthly  beauty.     The  reed  of  Cocytus  is  '  deformis  ' 

132 


Ulva 

(Ge.  iv.  478),  gaunt  and  ugly,  epithets  not  to  be 
applied  to  those  which  fringe  the  banks  of  the 
hallowed  Mincio. 

Martyn  found  our  plant  in  the  cat's-tail,  which 
children  call  bulrush,  and  books » by  the  bookish 
name  of  reed-mace ;  but  Ovid  would  hardly  have 
applied  the  epithet  of  '  sterilis  '  to  a  plant  with  so 
stately  an  inflorescence.  Moreover,  the  plant  has 
farinaceous  and  esculent  roots,  and  Martyn  himself 
claims  an  Italian  use  for  its  fluff  as  the  stuffing 
of  beds. 

The  method  of  residues  seems  to  leave  us  with 
only  one  plant  which  answers  all  the  conditions. 
This  is  the  fen  sedge  (Cladium  Mariscus),  whose 
Italian  name  is  'paniscastrella  di  palude.'  Its  leaves 
are  as  long  as  four  and  its  stem  as  five  feet.  It  often 
makes  masses  in  the  lakes  and  marshes  of  Italy. 
Though  a  local  plant  in  England,  it  is  still  abundant 
in  some  parts  of  the  Eastern  Counties  fens,  and, 
according  to  Mrs.  Lancaster,  was  at  one  time  used  at 
Cambridge  for  lighting  fires.  It  may  be  recognized 
by  the  stout  and  round  stems,  which  are  very  leafy, 
and  by  the  leaves,  which  have  jagged  edges  and  very 
long  points.     The  flowering  cymes  are  pale  brown. 

Flower,  May  and  June. 

Italian  name,  Panicastrella  di  palude. 

Vaccinium  :  see  Hyacinthus. 


x33 


Trees,  Shrubs,   and   Plants  of  Virgil 

Verbena. 

'  verbena  tempora  vincti '  (Ae.  xii.  120). 
'  verbenas  adole  pingues  '  (Ec.  viii.  65). 
'lilia  verbenasque'  (Ge.  iv.  131). 

The  vervain  (Verbena  officinalis)  is  a  fairly  frequent 
roadside  plant  in  England  and  very  common  in  Italy. 
It  has  a  small  spike  of  bluish  flowers,  and,  as  Pliny 
noted,  an  angular  stem  and  oak-like  leaves.  It  has 
not  enough  beauty  or  dignity  to  justify  its  standing 
side  by  side  with  the  lily  in  the  Corycian's  garden, 
nor  does  it  look  like  a  bee  plant,  and  I  have  never 
seen  bees  on  it,  though  I  have  grown  it  in  a  garden. 
The  Corycian  must  have  learnt  from  his  Italian 
neighbours  how  highly  they  valued  a  plant  which 
could  cure  them  of  divers  diseases,  save  them  from 
the  effect  of  a  serpent's  fang,  and  through  incanta- 
tion bring  an  errant  husband  to  his  wife's  breast.  It 
could  cleanse  a  house  from  impurities,  and  Jupiter 
would  have  no  other  herb  to  sweep  his  table. 

When  the  Romans  held  that  a  foreign  State  had 
done  them  a  wrong,  they  sent  an  ambassador,  who 
wore  a  fillet  of  white  wool  with  a  wreath  of  vervain, 
plucked  root  and  all  on  the  Capitol,  to  demand 
reparation.  In  this  use  the  plucked  tufts  were  called 
'  sagmina,'  or  sacred  things,  and  the  envoy  was 
*  verbenarius.'  It  would  seem,  however,  that  other 
plants  could  be  used  if  they  were  plucked  from  the 
sacred  enclosure.  Tufts  of  grass  would  do,  and,  in 
some  cases,  sprays  of  myrtle  seem  to  have  been 
chosen.  This  led  to  an  extension  of  the  name, 
'verbena'    standing   for   any  spray — bay,    olive,   or 

134 


Verbena 

other — that  was  used  in  sacred  rites.     It  may  have 
such  a  meaning  in  our  first  passage. 

It  does  not  appear  what  quality  in  the  vervain  won 
for  it  this  remarkable  reverence.  The  Druids  are 
said  to  have  valued  it  as  highly  as  the  Romans  did, 
and  in  medieval  times  it  had  an  equal  renown  as  a 
charm  against  witchcraft  and  a  remedy  for  most 
ailments.  In  fact,  its  only  property  seems  to  be  a 
slight  astringency. 

Flower,  June  to  September. 

Italian  names,  Verbena  and  Vervena. 

Viburnum. 

'  lenta  .  .  .  inter  viburna  cupressi '  (Ec.  i.  26). 

The  plant  here  is  assumed  to  be  the  wayfaring 
tree  (Viburnum  Lantana),  apparently  on  the  ground 
that  its  Italian  name  is  still  '  vavorna.'  It  is  true 
that  the  branches  of  this  shrub  are  flexible,  but  they 
hardly  look  it ;  in  fact,  as  it  grows  in  the  hedges  ©f 
an  English  limestone  district,  it  is  almost  aggres- 
sively upright.  A  kindred  species  is  the  wild  guelder 
rose  (V.  Opulus),  which  affects  damper  places.  In 
flower  and  berry  it  is  much  the  finer  shrub,  and 
from  it  has  sprung  the  guelder  rose,  in  which  the 
blossoms  are  barren  and  the  cyme  has  become 
globular.  Both  species  are  common  in  Italy.  I 
have  an  Opulus  growing  under  a  tall  pine,  and  like 
to  think  that  they  are  as  near  Virgil's  picture  as 
English  conditions  will  allow. 

Flower,  April  to  June. 
Italian  names,  Vavorna  and  Lantana. 
*35 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 
Vicia. 

'tenues  foetus  viciae  '  (Ge.  i.  75  ;  cf.  ib.  227). 

The  vetch  or  tare  (Vicia  sativa)  is  a  leguminous 
plant  developed  in  cultivation  from  V.  angustifolia, 
a    plant    common     in    most    parts   of   Europe    and 
northern  Africa.     It  is  an  annual,  and  in  the  wild 
form  the  seeds  are  very  small,  hence  tenues,  though 
they  grow  larger  in  the  cultivated  type.     The  plant 
is   grown   for  fodder,  and  the  Romans  were  aware 
that  its  roots  enriched  the  ground.     The  reason  of 
this  is  explained  under  Faba.     After  the  crop  had 
been  mown,  the  ground  was  immediately  ploughed, 
and  the  nitrogen  became  available  for  the  succeeding 
crop. 

Flower,  May  and  June. 

Italian  name,  Veccia. 

Viola. 

1  et  nigrae  violae  sunt  et  vaccinia  nigra '  (Ec.  x.  39). 
'molli  viola'  (ib.  v.  38  ;  Ae.  x.  39). ■ 
'  pallentes  violas '  (Ec.  ii.  47). 
1  violaria '  (Ge.  iv.  32). 

It  seems  that  the  name  covers  several  distinct 
plants,  as  did  the  Greek  tov.  Our  first  passage, 
which  follows  the  line  of  Theocritus, 

Kai  to  lov  fieXav  evrl  kol  a  ypairra  v6.kiv6os, 

refers  to  the  sweet  violet  (Viola  odorata),  of  which 
the  purple  form  was  known  as  Sarran — that  is, 
Tyrian.  The  white  form  is  also  found  in  Italy;  but 
perhaps  in    our  third  passage  Virgil  is   translating 

136 


Viola 

Xev/cotov,  which  is  evidently  not  a  violet,  but  what 
gardeners  call  a  soft-wooded  plant.  It  is  usual  to 
identify  it  with  the  hoary  stock  (Matthiola  incana), 
still  known  in  Italy  as  \  violacciocco  bianco,'  the 
epithet  presumably  referring  to  the  hoariness  of  the 
leaves  and  stem.  The  plant  once  grew  on  the 
Hastings  cliffs,  and  may  still  occasionally  be  found 
at  Freshwater  Bay  in  the  Isle  of  Wight.  It  is  the 
ancestor  of  our  garden  Queen  and  Brompton  stocks, 
and,  like  the  violet,  was  a  garland  flower. 

The  violet  was  extensively  grown  not  only  for 
bees,  but  for  its  scent,  and  for  a  purple  dye  of  no 
great  value.  Pesto  was  as  famous  for  violets  as  for 
roses. 

Flower  of  Violets,  March  and  April. 

Flower  of  Stock,  March  to  May. 

Italian  names  :  Viola  (violet). 

Fiorbono,     Fiorbianco,     and 
Violacciocco  bianco  (stock). 

Viscum. 

'  Solet  silvis  brumali  frigore  viscum 
fronde  virere  nova,  quod  non  sua  seminat  arbos, 
et  croceo  foetu  teretes  circumdare  ramos'  (Ae.  vi.  205  sqq.). 

Virgil  well  indicates  the  curious  green -yellow 
colour  of  the  mistletoe  (Viscum  album),  and  its  con- 
spicuousness  on  a  leafless  tree  in  winter.  The  berries 
were  made  into  bird-lime,  and  for  this  purpose  were 
gathered  before  they  were  ripe.  There  are  two 
varieties,  and  that  which  has  an  oval  and  yellowish 

*37 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 

berry  was  held  to  give  a  better  product  than  the 
more  common  type,  of  which  the  berries  are  round 
and  white. 

The  trees  on  which  the  mistletoe  is  most  com- 
monly parasitic  in  Italy  are  apples,  pears,  poplars, 
plums,  and  almonds. 

It  is  supposed  that  its  association  with  Christmas 
came  from  a  dedication  to  Saturn,  which  made  it 
figure  at  the  Saturnalia. 

Flower,  March  and  April. 
Italian  name,  Vischio. 

VlTIS   AND    LABRUSCA. 

The  former  is  the  cultivated  and  the  latter  the 
wild  form  of  the  vine  (Vitis  vinifera),  a  native  of 
northern  Persia,  cultivated  from  prehistoric  times. 
The  vine  came  to  Greece,  perhaps,  by  way  of 
Damascus,  where  it  flourishes  greatly,  and  where 
lately  our  soldiers  have  eaten  what  one  of  them 
called  '  huge  grapes,  by  bucketfuls.'  As  chance 
seedlings,  produced  by  the  pilfering  of  birds,  are 
apt  to  return  to  the  wild  stock,  the  '  labrusca '  has 
naturalized  itself  in  woods,  and  occasionally  on  sea- 
beaches,  in  Italy.  Homer  pictures  it  as  creeping 
round  the  entrance  of  Calypso's  island  cave,  and 
Virgil  in  a  like  position  on  a  Sicilian  grotto, 
'  Antrum  |  silvestris  raris  sparsit  labrusca  racemis ' 
{Ec.  v.  6).  The  scanty  bunches  provided  a  small 
grape,  of  which  peasants  made  a  rough  and  thin  wine. 

The  cultivation  of  the  vine,  in  its  native  country 

138 


Vitis  and  Labrusca 

and  in  Syria  and  Egypt,  produced  in  early  days 
many  varieties.  In  Virgil's  days  they  were  yet  more 
numerous,  and,  after  speaking  of  fifteen,  he  cuts  short 
his  list  with  the  remark  that  it  were  as  easy  to  count 
the  Libyan  sands  or  the  waves  of  the  Ionian  sea 
(Ge.  ii.  90-108).  We  cannot  with  any  certainty 
identify  these  varieties  or,  indeed,  be  sure  that  any 
of  them  still  exist.  Grapes  change  their  character 
with  a  change  of  soil,  and  varieties  produced  in 
cultivation,  the  '  vernae '  of  the  vegetable  world, 
whether  vines  or  apples  or  other,  seldom  have  in 
them  the  sempiternity  of  the  wilding  race.  The 
greybeards  of  to-day  sigh  in  vain  for  the  Ribston 
pippin.  It  irks  the  good  tree  to  be  ever  in  the 
service  of  a  devouring  master  ;  wherefore,  after  some 
generations,  it  fades  and  languishes,  and  grows  dim 
and  dies. 

Nowadays  the  vine  is  usually  propagated  by  eyes, 
but  seeds,  cuttings,  or  layers  made  the  choice  of 
ancient  Italy ;  and  Virgil  decides  for  the  layer, 
1  propago '  (Ge.  ii.  63),  a  method  still  in  occasional 
use.  In  the  vineyard  the  young  plants  were  set  in 
rows,  '  antes '  (ib.  417),  and  usually  on  the  principle 
of  the  quincunx,  which  gives  the  largest  allowance 
of  light  and  air  (ib.  278).  In  the  young  state, 
the  vines  are  lightly  pinched,  as  gardeners  call  it, 
in  summer  (ib.  365,  366),  and,  when  they  have  filled 
their  allotted  space,  they  are  annually  pruned  back 
to  the  old  wood  (ib.  367  sqq.),  with  intermediate 
prunings  to  remove  superfluous  growths  and  let  in 
air  and  sunshine. 

J39 


Trees,  Shrubs,   and  Plants  of  Virgil 

Of  the  vineyard  there  were  two  types.  For  one 
type  the  technical  name  seems  to  have  been  '  vinea,' 
though  usage  is  not  quite  consistent.  In  this  the 
vines  either  crept  along  the  ground  or  were  held  up 
by  short  sticks — Shakespeare's  '  pole-clipt  vinyard.' 
Both  methods  survive  in  Italy,  the  sticks  nowadays 
being  often  a  tripod  of  bamboo  canes.  This  system 
reduces  labour,  but  the  vines  are  more  liable  to  damage 
from  hailstorms.  It  does  not  appear  that  Virgil  men- 
tions it,  his  use  of  the  name  '  vinea  '  being  merely 
for  metrical  convenience,  and  his  principles  would 
involve  a  preference  for  the  *  vinetum'  or  '  arbustum,' 
as  it  was  sometimes  called.  In  this  the  vines  were 
trained  to  trees,  usually  elms  (Ec.  ii.  70 ;  Ge.  i.  2  ; 
ib.  ii.  221).  The  only  other  tree  mentioned  by  Virgil 
is  a  willow  (Ec.  x.  40),  but  many  others  were  occa- 
sionally used.  The  plane  was  rejected  rather  for  its 
shaling  bark  than  for  its  large  leaves,  for  in  well- 
managed  vineyards  no  more  leaves  were  allowed  on 
the  supporting  tree  than  served  to  keep  it  alive 
(Ge.  ii.  400;  Ec.  ii.  70).  Indeed,  when  the  soil 
was  thin  only  a  single  shoot  was  allowed  to  grow 
from  the  top  of  the  trunk.  On  the  other  hand,  in 
rich  soil  it  was  usual  to  have  a  system  of  trained 
branches. 

On  this  method  the  young  vines  were  at  first 
trained  to  reeds,  or  poles,  or  folded  sticks  (ib.  358  sq.), 
which  reached  up  to  the  lowest  tier  of  branches,  the 
name  for  the  tiers  being  '  tabulata,'  or  stories.  The 
interval  between  the  tiers  was  not  less  than  three 
feet,  and  no  branch  was  immediately  under  one  in 

140 


Vitis  and  Labrusca 

the  tier  above  it.  Otherwise,  the  whipping  of  the 
branch  and  the  vine-shoots  in  the  wind  would  damage 
the  hanging  blossoms  or  fruit. 

To  keep  out  beasts,  especially  the  mischievous 
goat,  it  was  necessary  to  enclose  the  vineyard  with  a 
hedge  (ib.  371)  of  '  paliurus,'  or  some  other  thorny 
shrub,  and  the  soil  had  to  be  kept  open  by  deep  and 
frequent  hoeing  (ib.  399  sq.).  In  fact,  as  Virgil  says, 
to  the  work  there  is  no  end. 

The  wide  cultivation  and  the  great  value  of  the  vine 
gave  rise  to  a  technical  vocabulary  for  its  various 
parts.  As  with  other  trees,  the  name  for  the  main 
stem  was  '  truncus.'  The  rods  left  on  the  tree  after 
pruning  were  '  palmites,'  and  the  eyes  or  buds  on 
them  '  gemmae,'  or  sometimes  '  oculi.'  Thus  Virgil's 
sign  of  spring  is  accurately  expressed,  '  laeto  turgent 
in  palmite  gemmae  '  (Ec.  vii.  48).  The  shoots  which 
spring  from  the  eyes  were  'pampini.'  These  are 
longest  in  autumn  before  the  general  pruning,  hence 
1  pampineo  autumno '  (Ge.  ii.  5).  The  summer 
pruning,  in  which  superfluous  '  pampini '  were  re- 
moved, was  'pampinatio,'  and  'putatio'  is  also  found 
in  this  sense,  especially  in  poetry,  though  it  is  more 
properly  applied  either  to  the  general  removal  of  the 
'  pampini '  in  winter,  or  to  the  pruning  of  the  sup- 
porting elm  or  other  tree.  Lexicons  have  a  way 
of  rendering  both  '  palmes '  and  '  pampinus  '  by 
'  tendril.'  This  is  absurd,  for  tendrils  do  not  produce 
buds,  nor  are  they,  as  tendrils,  pruned  off,  but  only 
as  growing  on  a  'pampinus.'  Technically,  'racemus' 
is  the  stalk  of  the  bunch  of  grapes,   '  uva,'  but  is 

141 


Shrubs,  Trees,  and   Plants  of  Virgil 

often  used  for  the  bunch  itself,  and  once,  oddly,  by 
Virgil,  for  a  berry  (Ge.  ii.  60).  The  berry  was 
1  acinus '  or  '  acinum,'  forms  which  between  them 
display  all  three  genders.  A  stone  of  the  grape  was 
'  vinaceum.' 

The  centurion's  staff  and  whipping-stick,  '  nodosa 
vitis,'  was  a  '  palmes.'  Bacchus,  for  the  reins  of  his 
team  of  panthers  or  tigers,  used  the  young  shoots. 

Flower,  Spring. 
Italian  name,  Vite. 


142 


ITALIAN    NAMES 

WITH  THEIR  EQUIVALENTS  IN  VIRGIL 


Abete  rosso,  Abies. 

Acanto,  Acanthus. 

Acero,  Acer. 

Aglio,  Alium. 

Alberello,  Populus. 

Albatro,  Arbutus. 

Alloro,  Laurus. 

Altea,  Hibiscum. 

Amarecciole,  Genista  [Broom]. 

Amello,  Amellus. 

[Aneto,  Anethum  ?] 

Antiveleno,  Inula. 

Appeggi,  Cedrus. 

Appiastro,  Melisphyllum. 

Arcidiavolo,  Lotus  [Celtis]. 

Attacca-mani,  Lappa. 

Astone,  Carduus. 

Astro,  Amellus. 

Avornello,  Ornus. 

Baccara,  Baccar. 

Baccellina,      Genista      [Dyer's 

Greenweed]. 
Benefisci,  Hibiscum. 
Berbena,  Verbena. 
Bietola,  Beta. 
Biondello,  Lutum. 


Bosso  or  Bossolo,  Buxus. 
Braglia,  Genista  [Dyer's  Green- 
weed]. 
Brula,  Myrica. 

Calcatreppola,  Tribulus. 

Calendula,  Calta. 

Canajoli,  Lupinus. 

Canna,  Harundo  [Great  Reed]. 

Canna     di     Palude,     Harundo 

[Common  Reed]. 
Capogirlo,  Ervum. 
Carice,  Carex. 
Castagno,  Castanea. 
Cedro  (see  Malus  C). 
Cedronella,  Melisphyllum. 
Cerinta,  Cerintha. 
Cetriolino,  Cucumis. 
Chioppo,  Acer. 
Cicuta,  Cicuta. 
Cipolla,  Cepa. 
Cipresso,  Cupressus. 
Citraggine,  Melisphyllum. 
Colore,  Ebulus. 
Corbezzolo,  Arbutus. 
Coriandola,  Coriandrum. 
Corniolo  or  Crogniolo,  Cornus. 


43 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 


Cotogno  (see  Malus  B.). 
Crescione,  Nasturtium. 

Dittinella,  Casia  (Daphne). 

Ebbio,  Ebulus. 

Edera  or  Ellera,  Hedera. 

Elabro  bianco,  Helleborus. 

Elenio,  Inula. 

Elice,  Elix. 

Endivia,  Intubum. 

Erbacorsa,  Casia  (Daphne). 

Erba  Medica,  Medica. 

Erba-tortora,  Cerintha. 

Erbella,  Inula. 

Eschio,  Quercus. 

Faggio,  Fagus. 

Fagiolo  dall'  occhio,  Phaselus. 

Farnia,  Quercus. 

Fava,  Faba. 

Felce  capannaja,  Filix. 

Finocchio,  Anethum  [Fennel]. 

Finocchiaccio,  Ferula. 

Fiorbono,  Viola  [Stock]. 

Fiorrancia,  Calta. 

Fragola  or  Fravola,  Fragum. 

Frassino,  Fraxinus. 

Frumento,  Triticum. 

Gattice,  Populus. 

Gelso,  Morus. 

Giglio,  Lilium. 

Giglio  rosso  [Lilium  bulbiferuni] 

(see  Hyacinthus). 
Ginepro,  Juniperus. 
Ginestra,      Ginista       [  Spanish 

Broom.] 


Ginistrella,  Ginista  [  Dyer's 
Greenweed]. 

Gioglio,  Lolium. 

Giracapo,  Narcissus  [Pheas- 
ant's Eye]. 

Giunco,  Juncus. 

Granfarro,  Far. 

Guaderella,  Lutum. 

Ippofesto,  Tribulus. 
Ischio,  Ligustrum  [Privet]. 

Lattuga,  Lactuca. 

Lauro-tino,  Tinus. 

Lebbio,  Ebulus. 

Leccio,  Ilex. 

Lentaggine,  Tinus. 

Lente  or  Lenticchia,  Lens. 

Libo,  Taxus. 

Ligustro,  Ligustrum  [Privet]. 

Lino,  Linum. 

Loglio,  Lolium. 

Loppo,  Acer. 

Lotu,  Lotus  [Celtis  australis], 

Lupino,  Lupinus. 

Maggiorana,  Amaracus. 

Malva,  Malva. 

Malvaccioni,  Hibiscum. 

Marruca,  Paliurus. 

Melo,  Malus  [Apple]. 

Miglio,  Milium. 

Mirto,  Myrtus. 

Mochi,  Ervum. 

Moro,  Morus. 

Mullaghera,  Lotus  [L.  cornicu- 

latus. 
Muschio,  Muscus. 


144 


Italian  Names 


Narcisso,  Narcissus  [Pheasant's 

Eye]. 
Nasso,  Taxus. 
Nocca,  Carex. 
Nocciuolo,  Corylus. 
Noce,  Nux. 

Oleastro,  Oleaster. 
Olivella,  Ligustrum  [Privet]. 
Olivo  or  Ulivo,  Olea  or  Oliva. 
Olmo,  Ulmus  [Ulmus  australis]. 
Olmo  riccio,  Ulmus   [U.   mon- 

tand\. 
Ontano,  Alnus. 
Orniello,  Ornus. 
Orzo,  Hordeum. 

Pallone  [Viburnum  Opulus]  (See 
Viburnum). 

Palma  da  datteri,  Palma. 

Panicastrella  di  palude,  Ulva. 

Pan-porcino  or  Pan-terreno, 
Baccar. 

Papavero,  Papaver. 

Pepolino,  Serpyllum. 

Pero,  Pirus. 

Persia,  Amaracus. 

Pino  di  Corsica,  Pieea. 

Pino  da  pinocchi,  Pinus  [Stone 
Pine]. 

Pino  di  Scozia,  Pinus  [Scotch 
Fir]. 

Pino  Zimbro,  Taeda. 

Platano,  Platanus. 

Porro,  Ponrum. 

Prungo,  Prunus  [Primus  domes- 
tied]  . 

Prugnolo,  Prunus  [P.  spinosa]. 

Pungi-topo,  Ruscus. 


Ramerino  or    Rosmarino,   Ros 

marinus. 
Rogo  or  Rovo,  Rubus. 
Rombice  or  Romice,  Rumex. 
Rosa,  Rosa. 

Rucola  or  Ruchetta,  Eruca. 
Ruta,  Ruta. 

Sala  [Typha  latifolia.  See  under 
Ulva]. 

Salce,  Salix. 

Santoreggia  or  Savoreggia, 
Thymbra. 

Scacciabile,  Baccar. 

Scarlattina,  Cerintha. 

Scilla,  Scilla. 

Sgancio,  Prunus  [P.  spinosa]. 

Sedano,  Apium. 

Sorbo,  Sorbus. 

Spaccasassi,  Lotus  [Celtis]. 

Spadarella  [Gladiolus  zegetum. 
See  Hyacinth.] 

Spelta,  Far. 

Speronella,  Lappa. 

Spinogiallo  [Centaur ea  solstiti- 
alis.     See  Cardus]. 

Stroppioni,  Carduus  [C.  arven- 
sis] . 

Sughera,  Suber. 

Susino,  Plum  [Prunus  domes- 
tied]  . 

Tamarice,  Myrica. 
Tasso,  Taxus. 
Testucchio,  Acer. 
Tiglio,  Tilia. 
Timo,  Thymum. 

Vavorna,  Viburnum  [V.  Lan- 
tana], 

45  i 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 


Veccia,  Vicia. 

Veladro,  Helleborus. 

Vena,  Avena. 

Verbena,  Verbena, 

Viola,  Viola  [Sweet  Violet]. 

Violaccio     bianco,     Viola 

[Stock]. 
Vischio  (Viscum). 


Visciolo,  Cerasus. 
Vite,  Vitis. 

Zafferano,  Crocus. 
Zampino,  Abies. 
Zinepro,  Juniperus. 
Zirlo,  Ervum. 
Zucca,  Cucurbita. 


This  list  is  compiled  from  Arcangeli,  with  a  good  many 
additions.  The  word  scacciabile  seems  not  to  be  in  the  dictionaries, 
nor  have  I  ever  seen  it  written.  I  have  been  told  that  Medicago 
arborea  is  called  cytiso,  but  Arcangeli  does  not  give  it,  and  it 
seems  to  be  used  of  an  exotic.  For  Saliunca  I  have  not  heard  or 
found  any  name. 


?  46 


LIST    OF    SCIENTIFIC    NAMES 

WITH  THEIR  EQUIVALENTS  IN  VIRGIL 


Abies  pectinata,  Abies. 
Acacia  Arabica,  Lotus. 
Acanthus  mollis,  Acanthus. 
Acer  campestre,  Acer. 
Aconitum  anthora,  Aconitum. 
Allium  cepa,  Cepa. 

porrum,  Porrum. 

sativum,  Alium. 

Alnus  glutinosa,  Alnus. 
Alhaea  officinalis,  Hibiscum. 
Amomum  cardamomum,  Amo- 

mum. 
Anethum      graveolens,      Ane- 

thum  (?) 
Apium  graveolens,  Apium. 
Arbutus  unedo,  Arbutus. 
Arundo  donax,  Harundo. 
Avena  fatua,  Avena  sterilis. 
Avena  sativa,  Avena. 

Beta  ciela,  Beta. 

maritima,  Beta. 

Boswellia,  Tus. 

Buxus  sempervirens,  Buxus. 

Calendula  officinalis,  Calta. 
Carduus  arvensis,  Carduus. 


Castanea  sativa,  Castanea. 
Celtis  australis,  Lotus. 
Centaurea  calcitrapa,  Tribulus. 

solstitialis,  Carduus  (?) 

Cerinthe  aspera,  Cerinthe. 
Cichorium   divaricatum,    Intu- 

bum. 
Citrus  medica  [see  Malus  C.]. 
Cladium  mariscus,  Ulva. 
Conium  maculatum,  Cicuta. 
Coriandrum  sativum,  Coriand- 

rum. 
Cornus  mas,  Cornus. 
Corylus  Avellana,  Corylus. 
Crocus  sativus,  Crocus. 
Cucumis  sativus,  Cucumis. 
Cucurbita  pepo,  Cucurbita. 
Cupressus    sempervirens,    Cu- 

pressus. 
Cyclamen  (species),  Baccar. 
Cytisus  scoparius,  Genista. 

Daphne  gnidium,  Casia. 
Dolichus        melanophthalmus, 
Phaselus. 


Eruca  sativa,  Eruca. 


J47 


Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Plants  of  Virgil 


Fagus  silvestris,  Fagus. 
Ferula  communis,  Ferula. 
Foeniculum  vulgare,  Anethum. 
Fragaria  vescum,  Fragum. 
Fraxinus  excelsior,  Fraxinus. 
ornus,  Ornus. 

Galium  aparine,  Lappa. 
Genista  tinctoria,  Genista. 
Gladiolus  communis  [see  Hya- 
cinthus]. 

Hedera  helix,  Hedera. 
Hedera    chrysocarpa,    Hedera 

pallens. 
Hordeum  vulgare,  Hordeum. 

Inula  helenium,  Inula. 

Juglans  regia,  Nux. 

Juncus    conglomerate   and   J, 

effusus,  Juncus. 
Juniperus  communis,  Juniperus . 

Lactuca  sativa,  Lactuca. 
Laurus  cinnamomum,  Casia. 
Laurus  nobilis,  Laurus. 
Lepidium  sativum,  Nasturtium. 
Ligustrum  vulgare,  Ligustrum. 
Lilium  bulbiferum  [see  Hyacin- 

thus] . 

candidum,  Lilium. 

croceum   [see    Hyacin- 

thus]. 
martagon  [see  Hvacin- 

thus]. 
Linum    angustifolium    and    L. 

usitatissimum,  Linum. 
Lolium  temulentum,  Lolium. 
Lupinus  albus,  Lupinus. 


Malva  silvestris,  Malva. 
Matthiola  incana,  Viola  pallens. 
Medicago  arborea,  Cytisus. 

sativa,  Medica. 

Melissa    officinalis,   Melisphyl- 

lum. 
Morus  nigra,  Morus. 
Myrtus  communis,  Myrtus. 

Narcissus  poeticus,  Narcissus. 

serotinus,    Narcissus 

sera  comans. 

Olea  Europaea,  Oleaster. 

sativa,  Olea  and  Oliva. 

Origanum     dictamnum,      Dic- 

tamnum. 
marjorana,Amaracus. 

Paliurusaculeatus  [=  australis], 

Paliurus. 
Panicum  miliaceum,  Milium. 
Papaver  hortense,  P.  officinale, 

and  P.  somniferum,  Papaver. 
Phoenix  dactylifera,  Palma. 
Phragmites     communis,     Har- 

undo. 
Pinus  cembra,  Taeda. 

laricio,  Picea. 

pinea,  Pinus. 

silvestris,  Pinus. 

Pistacia   terebinthus,  Terebin- 

thus. 
Platanus  orientalis,  Platanus. 
Populus  alba,  Populus. 
Primus  cerasus,  Cerasus. 

communis,  Prunus. 

domestica,  Prunus. 

insititia,  Prunus. 


148 


List  of  Scientific  Names 


Prunus  spinosa,  Spinus. 

Pteris  aquilina,  Filix. 

Pyrus  cydonia  [see  MalusB.]. 

domestica,  Pirus. 

malus,  Malus. 

sorbus,  Sorbus. 

Quercus  ilex,  Ilex. 

pedunculata,  Quercus 

and  Robur. 

sessiliflora,      Aesculus 

and  Robur. 

suber,  Suber. 

Ranunculus  sceleratus,  Sardonia 
herba. 

Reseda  luteolum,  Lutum. 

Ros  marinus,  Rosmarinus  offici- 
nalis. 

Rosa  (species),  Rosa. 

Rubus  discolor  and  others, 
Rubus. 

Rumex  crispus  and  others, 
Rumex. 

Ruscus  aculeatus,  Ruscus. 

Ruta  graveolens,  Ruta. 

Salix  (species),  Salix. 
Sambucus  ebulus,  Ebulus. 
Satureia  hortensis,  Thymbra. 


Satureia  thymbra,  Thymbra. 

Siler,  Salix  (?) 

Spartium  junceum,  Genista. 

Tamarix  Gallica,  Myrica. 
Taxus  baccata,  Taxus. 
Thymus  serpyllum,  Serpyllum. 

vulgaris,  Thymum. 

Tilia  parvifolia,  Tilia. 
Triticum  spelta,  Far. 
■  vulgare,  Triticum. 

Ulmus  australis,  Ulmus. 

montana,  Ulmus. 

Urginea  Scilla,  Scilla. 

Vaccinium  [see  Hyacinthus]. 
Valeriana  Celtica,  Saliunca. 
Veratrum  album,  Helleborus. 
Verbena  officinalis,  Verbena. 
Viburnum  Lantana,  Viburnum. 

tinus,  Tinus. 

Vicia  ervilia,  Ervum. 

faba,  Faba. 

lens,  Lens. 

sativa,  Vicia. 

Viscum  album,  Viscum. 
Vitis  vinifera,   Vitis  and    Lab- 
rusca. 


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